Seven Sins
by Ojex XIII
Summary: Fifth Dragon sequal. a dark cloud looms on the horizon as an old evil rises from the shadows. can the Xiaolin monks stop the Seven Sins before they finish their dark plans? pairings include... to many. rated T for violence, crude humor, and so much more.
1. Chapter 1: New Students

(a/n) the not so long awaited sequel to the Fifth Dragon is up and ready to be read. I just couldn't wait to get started on this story, so that explains why it took me 4 days to right the first chapter. now, a few things before you get started. this story will be a bit more mature than the last one. but I still dont feel that it needs an M rating. T will do just fine. next, I couldn't fit all the pairings into the summary, so I'll have to list them here: RaixKim, ClayxOC(Saya), OmixOC, JackxOC, and finally, there will be one OCxOC. and finally, I strongly suggest than nobody drink anything while reading thins chapter. wouldn't want you to spray something all over your computer and ruin it, now would we? trust me, take that worning. so, with no more things to say, Ill leave you to read Seven Sins chapter 1.

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Seven Sins

Chapter 1: New Students

"I can't believe that idiot Jack wouldn't take me back and all because he rebuilt that stupid detect-o-bot or whatever it's called! Ok, maybe the fact that I tried to kill him had something to do with it, but it's not like it's never happened before." Wuya grumbled as she weaved her way through a dark, moonlit forest somewhere in Romania. Recently, the heylin witch had once again suffered a defeat at the hands of the Xiaolin monks. She figure that with Hannibal off somewhere licking his wounds and Chase having mysteriously disappeared that is was time for her to take another shot at world domination. So, she Jack (who still trusted her at the time) steal the Reversing Mirror from the monks and the Serpents Tail from Jack so she could regain her physical form and proceed with her plan (no details included). Unfortunately for her yet fortunate for the world, Omi, Clay, Raimundo, and Kimiko managed to stop her yet again. Afterwards, Wuya was reverted to her ghostly form, though she was never put back into the puzzle box, and left for dead from there. She'd been hovering through the same forest in Romania for hours now and she was really starting to get pissed off. If she were still physical, she would've burned the whole damn thing down in a blaze of green fire. Every tree, whether it be dead and barren, or half lifeless with gray, drooping leaves would go up in smoke and burn to the ground. She'd leave the low fog, which barely hid the ground from sight. She thought that would be a nice touch to the destruction.

Wuya sighed and crossed her arms, which almost went right through her body. "I can't just keep wandering through this forest aimlessly." She grumbled. "I need to find place to stay and another insect I can mooch off of."

"I know not where you can find someone to 'mooch off of', but I can offer you a colleague."

Wuya turned her head over her shoulder to see who had spoken. She gasped when she saw who it was. Behind her stood a tall and broad shouldered man with a short beard and mustache. His face was mostly hidden by a strange helmet in the shape of an eagle's head made of some kind of black metal and he had iron plates with many bone spikes covering his shoulders. What could be seen of his light brown hair was a single long braid which reached down below his knees. He was dressed in something very similar to a Xiaolin robe. His shirt and sash were black while his pants were red. His shirt also had two strange symbols on it: the first was a seven pointed star; the second was a gray and white flame. Most people would though that this was just some guy in a bad Halloween costume, but Wuya recognized him immediately. "Pride! What're you doing here? I thought you were banished with the others."

"Making to many assumptions, as always, I see. You haven't changed a bit over the past fifteen hundred some-odd years, Lust." Pride said emotionlessly.

"Actually, it's Wuya, now." Wuya corrected.

"Fair enough. Now, as I was saying, I have merely been in hiding. I've been in suspended animation deep within the bowls of the earths crust, waiting for you to come and resurrect me." He stopped there, seeing the look on Wuya's face which obviously meant that she knew she was in trouble.

"Yeeeeeeah… about that…" Wuya started, but Pride cut her off.

Pride moved swiftly, shoving his face right in front of hers. They eyes on his helmet were glowing hellfire red. "You, the only surviving member of our organization, have made no attempt over the past fifteen hundred years to resurrect or even reform us!" he spoke in a harsh, almost violent tone, growing louder as Wuya slowly moved back and cowered in fear. "After the others were banished and I went into hiding, you continued your attempts at world domination. You attempted it once and you were defeated by that Monk, Dashi. From there, you were trapped inside a puzzle box until this time period. That, I can forgive you for. However, you should've begun searching for a way to bring us back as soon as you were released. May I ask why? Did you forget that without me, you would've remained a lowly house wife of an abusive husband back in ancient China? Did you forget that it was I who gave you your magic powers?"

Wuya remained silent, cowering like a frightened puppy in Pride's shadow. Pride spat at her in disgust before continuing. "Luckily for you, I am a forgiving man. I am going to give you one and only one chance to redeem yourself. I have begun to reform out organization. I have already recruited new suitors for Wrath and Gluttony. However, I am having trouble finding a likely candidate to take your place. So, choose now,"

Pride waved his hand. A puff of golden smoke engulfed Wuya and when it cleared, Wuya had regained her physical body. Her dazzling auburn hair moved ever so slightly in the gentle breeze and her emerald eyes gleamed in the moonlight. She looked down at her body to admire her shapely figure, as she did every time she became tangible again. But this time, her clothing was completely different. Instead of the usual dress robe she wore had been replaced by a simple black sash which reached across her chest and tied off in the back and another garment covered her lower torso, but left her legs completely exposed. This also had a sort of cloth that reached from her pelvis down to her ankles on both the front and back sides. There was also one more change. She had a sort of tattoo, exactly like the star on Pride's shirt. The lowest point on the star reached down just above her naval while the two top most points stopped just beneath the sash that covered her chest. Wuya took in a deep breath and sighed. "It feels good to be back in the old uniform." She said.

"So, will except my offer, Wuya?" Pride asked. "Will you abandon your lone quest for world dominance and return to your place as the Sin of Lust? Will you rejoin the Seven Sins?"

Wuya laughed in her amusement and offered Pride her hand, which now constantly glowed faintly of her dark magic. "Sure, I'll call you boss again. I was starting to miss the title of Lust as it was."

Pride smiled devilishly, his smirk barely visible under his helmet. "Excellent. Now, let us return to our dominion. I'm sure Wrath and Gluttony are getting impatient and I still need to find replacement for Envy, Greed, and Sloth." And so, Pride and Wuya vanished with the wind, off to reform an evil more powerful than any could imagine. The wind would bring dark things in the near future. Fire would burst from nothing, water would turn to poison and acid, humanity would completely unite for the first time in known history to fight a losing war against demonic armies, and it would all be the doing of one group…

The Seven Deadly Sins.

XIAOLIN TEMPLE THE NEXT DAY

Birds sang happily outside of the temple on this sunny day. Inside, four teenagers were walking lazily into the kitchen, yawning and rubbing their eyes every step of the way. The first to walk in was Raimundo, a tall Brazilian boy, with his arm wrapped around a petite Japanese girl's, Kimiko, waist. Next came in Omi, the short, bald, Chinese boy who'd lived there all his life, or at least most of it. And finally, Clay, a large Texan boy, brought up the rear.

Kimiko yawned and stretched her arms. "Man, I slept great last night!" she announced as she and her boyfriend separated, Raimundo sitting down at the table and Kimiko heading for the sink to get a glass of water.

"Yeah, me too." Rai agreed as he pulled an apple out of the basket on the table. He took a bit and started munching away as Clay and Omi took their seats on the other side. Omi was slumping over looking tired as if he'd slept on a rock or something and Clay was just staring out the window deep in thought.

"Is that so?" Omi asked. "That is most strange because I didn't sleep at all last night." He grumbled.

"Why's that, Omi?" Kim asked as she took her seat next to Rai.

"Because some inconsiderate and uncaring people insisted on making **strange moaning noises **in the middle of the night."

Raimundo and Kimiko cringed and stopped what they were doing at Omi's words. They began to nervously glance between each other and the little monk as thoughts of the night before went racing through their head. "_I thought you said they were both asleep!_" Kimiko whispered to him. Rai responded by giving her a glare, trying to nonverbally say that he thought they were. Truth was, this wasn't the first time they'd been caught. Clay and Dojo had confronted them about their actions multiple times over the past six months, though no one had actually even walked in on them or anything. Clay usually just said that he knew, and kept joking about it throughout the remaining day while Dojo just told them not to do it again, though the couple begged, bribed, and threatened him not to tell Master Fung. It was probably a miracle that master Fung hadn't found out by now. They'd always been worried about if Omi ever found out. He'd always seemed like a bit more of a nark in extreme situations like these, though he was getting better about keeping secrets these days.

"Yeah, about that Omi…" Rai said, "Let's not let Master Fung find out about that, ok?"

"You have my word that he won't know so long as I can sleep soundly from here on out, deal?" Omi asked.

"Deal!" Rai and Kim said in unison.

At this point, Clay slammed his fist on the table and got up from his seat, muttering, "I don't need t hear this." Under his breath as he walked out of the room. Everyone was silent for a while simply looking at the door waiting for Clay to come back. Eventually, however, Raimundo broke the silence by asking, "What's his problem?"

"I must say, I am as confused as you are, Raimundo." Omi agreed.

"You mean you guys don't remember?" Kimiko asked with a shocked expression. Rai and Omi simply shook their heads. "It's been six months to the day since… well, you know." When the two boys continued to look at her stupidly, she groaned and began to explain.

Exactly six months ago, there hadn't been four members of their team, but five. Her name was Saya: Omi's long lost adopted sister, Clay's girlfriend, and an all around good person. She returned to the temple after a seven year journey to find her Wudai Weapon, the Plasma Sceptor, which still sat in her room today collecting dust. A lot of good things came out of Saya's return. Were it not for her Raimundo and Kimiko would've more than likely never gotten together, Omi would've never discovered that he actually still has a living family member, Clay may not have gotten a girlfriend until he left the temple, and they probably wouldn't have defeated Chase in his attempt to take over the world. In all of their minds she was a hero. And whether she was alive or just off somewhere thinking things over is still unclear.

It had been six months to the ay since the battle with Chase and Saya's disappearance, so, now that Omi and Rai thought about it, it was perfectly clear as to why Clay was depressed. "But why aren't you mad or something, Omi?" Rai asked. "She was… er, is your only living family member, after all."

Kimiko elbowed him in the ribs. "Don't get him started too!" she snapped.

Before another word could be said, Clay walked back into the room. He was slumped over slightly and had his hands in his pockets, so he was obviously hadn't gotten over his mood yet. "Hey guys, Master Fung wants to see us outside after breakfast." He said before walking out of the room.

THE TEMPLE GROUNDS

It didn't take long for the others to finish their breakfast and get ready to meet Master Fung outside. They eventually found Master Fung and Clay sitting silently under the shade of a small tree. This tree in particular had a few precious memories about it. This was the exact tree that Clay and Saya had shared their first kiss under. To Clay, it was practically forbidden ground these days. He usually tried to avoid any and all memories of Saya whenever possible.

"Ah, there you are." Master Fung said as he turned his attention to his other three students. I have a favor to ask of you four." The old monk reached into his sleeve and handed it to Raimundo. "I would like you to take the Silver Manta Ray to the air port in Hong Kong and pick up a few new students. They are listed on that paper and should be able to find easily enough."

Omi's jaw dropped at his sensei's words. More new students? How many Dragons in training could there possibly be? As if he was reading Omi's thoughts, Master Fung continued. "These new students are coming to the temple to learn our ways and to learn our fighting style. They aren't more Xiaolin Dragons, though there have been as many as twenty in the past." He paused briefly as he reflected on his days as a young monk at that very temple. "Now then, be off. Their planes should be landing shortly and I'd like them to be here as quickly as possible."

"Hey, wait a minute!" right on queue, Dojo the dragon came falling out of the tree branches above. Lazy dragon was sleeping in the trees again. "Why can't I go?" he asked.

"I'm sorry, Dojo. But I've recently acquired the information that most people aren't accustomed to seeing dragons flying through the skies. Something about dragons being mythical creatures these days. Anyway, you will only accompany the kids when they are searching for Shen Gong Wu from now on."

Dojo grumbled darkly as he slithered away, slinking into some dark corner of the temple to get more sleep most likely. After a few more instructions from Master Fung, the gang grabbed the Silver Manta Ray from the vault and headed for Hong Kong.

HONG KONG AIRPORT

The gang stood in a circle in the center of the crowded air port. According to Master Fungs note, by some stroke of luck or irony, there were four of them and four new students. One from France, one from Spain, one from Australia, and the last from South Africa. They decided to split up and gather all four simultaneously to save time. Clay quickly stated that he'd fetch the one from Spain and was out of sight within thirty seconds. Kim gave Rai a quick kiss before she said that she'd get the French student and walked off. Rai and Omi played Rock Paper Scissors over who would take the other two, not that either actually cared. Omi ended up getting the Australian while Rai got the South African.

Rai leaned against the wall as he waited for the new student to show up. He held a sign in front of his that had a name printed on it that he couldn't even begin to pronounce. He was there for a good fifteen minutes, watching face after face walk past him until finally someone walked up to him. He was a black kid about Rai's age. He wore a pair of faded blue jeans and a purple basketball jersey with the number eight on it and a white T-shirt under that. His hair was short like Rai's, but more curly than straight. "Hi, you must be… I'm sorry, I can't even begin to pronounce your name."

"Yeah, no one can." The boy stated. "You can just call me Rush."

Rai simply shrugged and the two walked off, back to where the gang had split up to begin with. Along the way, Rai learned a lot about Rush. Apparently, Rush came from a middle class family in a small coastal town back in South Africa and the only reason he was allowed to come to China was because he'd already graduated high school, even though he was only fifteen. Rai didn't believe him at first, but, just to prove his point, Rush started to explain some extremely complicated chemistry that Rai couldn't even understand. Ria ended up stopping him half way through, claiming that he was getting a migraine and that he believed Rush now.

On the other side of the air port, Kimiko was impatiently tapping her foot on the floor and checking her watch every thirty seconds. She, like Rai, held a sign in front of her with a name written on it. Unlike Rai, however, she could easily figure out what the name said. She was waiting for a girl named Mimi Cooper from France. Kimiko sighed and checked her watch again. "Man, what is taking this Cooper girl so long?" she mumbled.

"Bonjour." Knowing that the word that had just been spoken was French, Kimiko turned her head to find a girl who she hoped was the one she'd been waiting for. She looked about a year or so younger than Kim. She wore what Kim guessed was a school uniform: a plain white blouse and a blue plaid skirt. She had long, auburn colored hair. "You're from the Xiaolin temple, right?"

"Yeah." Kimiko offered her hand to the other girl for a hand shake. "I'm Kimiko Tohomiko. And you're Mimi Cooper, right?"

"Oui." Mimi replied, shaking Kimiko's hand. Good thing Kim at least knew the basics of French.

"So, if you don't mind my asking, what's with the uniform?" Kim asked.

"Oh, this? I went to an all girls private school back in France. My plane left, like, fifteen minutes after class let out that day and I didn't have time to change before it left." Mimi replied. The two girls continued their conversation as they went to rejoin the others.

Clay sat silently on a bench with his hat pulled down over his face waiting for the new student from Spain. From the sign he had, he learned the he was waiting for a girl named Elena Murrieta. Unlike Kimiko, he was actually enjoying the long period of time that this new girl was taking to show up. It gave him some time to just be alone and relax. As much as he tried not to, his thoughts kept drifting back to the fact that it had been half a year since Saya had disappeared.

Clay turned his head just in time to see a girl with short brunet hair walking his way. She wore a pair of tight blue jeans with holes in the knees and a purple T-shirt with some smiling pink rabbit on it. There was a sentence written under the rabbit, which Clay guessed was in Spanish because he couldn't make heads or tails of it. She stopped in front of Clay, confirming his suspicion that she was who he was looking for. "Hola, I'm Elena Murrieta. And you are?"

Clay stood up, stretched his arms and yawned as he answered, "Clay Bailey." Without so much as another word, Clay motioned for Elena to follow him and walked off. They didn't speak to each other all the way to rejoin the others, though Elena did try to start a conversation a few times. Eventually, she gave up, deciding that Clay was just a quiet or rude person by nature.

Fifteen minutes later, Raimundo, Kimiko, Clay, Rush, Mimi, and Elena were all sitting at a table eating food from the air port McDonalds. Most everyone got cheese burgers, Kimiko and Mimi ended up getting salads, however, because Kim wasn't that hungry and Mimi was a vegetarian. They'd been waiting for Omi and the other new student for almost a half hour now and they were all getting impatient. This did give everyone a chance to get to know each other, however. Over the half hour, Elena revealed that she could speak three different languages, not counting English and Spanish; Mimi said that she'd won multiple surfing contests ever since she was seven; and Rush had been working for a wild life preserve for the last year, working with everything from chimps to lions cubs to elephant calves. Clay remained silent through every conversation. At one point, Elena asked Kimiko why Clay was in such a bad mood. Kimiko, not wanting to reveal too much, simply said that Clay had some bad memories about this day and would be back to normal by tomorrow.

Finally, after almost an hour of waiting, Omi appeared next to the table with the new student from Australia: a girl about Raimundo's age with long raven black hair. She wore a pair of camouflage shorts and a blue blouse. Omi tried to introduce her, but claimed that he forgot her name after wandering around the airport for the last hour trying to find the others. Raimundo just stared at the girl wide eyed. She looked so familiar to him, but he couldn't quite put his finger on who she reminded him of.

"It's all right, Omi." the girl said. "My name's Julia Marsh, I'm from Sydney Australia."

"No way! Julia?" Rai asked,

Julia looked down at the Brazilian boy, confused at first, but then it dawned on her. "Raimundo Pedrosa? Is that you?"

Raimundo got up from his seat, throwing his arms around the girl and drawing her into a brief hug. It only took a few seconds for the two to break apart and start ranting. "Man, it's been way to long, girl." Rai said. "How've you been? And how're the waves in Sydney?"

"I've been great, Rai. But how're you? And how're things back in Rio?" Julia replied.

"Um, excuse me." Kimiko said. She got up from the table and snaked one arm around Raimundo's waist. "Confused girlfriend here who'd like to know what the heck's going on."

Rai chuckled as he and Julia began to explain everything. Julia had been born in Los Angeles, California. When she was five, she moved to Rio de Janeiro, right next door to Rai. Those two were apparently old friends. Julia ended up moving to Sydney when she was twelve, however, and they hadn't seen each other since until now. "We've got a lot of catching up to do, Jewel." Rai said. Jewel was a nickname that all of her friends called her.

"Save it, guys. We've got to get back to the temple." Clay said. "Master Fung wanted us back as soon as possible." With that, the eight of them made their way out of the airport, activated the Silver Manta Ray once in the parking lot, and flew back to the Xiaolin temple. From what they knew Rush, Elena, and Mimi would fit in fine at the temple. Julia, however, was a different story. Kimiko had already found a small dislike for the Australian girl. She'd have to keep an eye on Rai from now on.


	2. Chapter 2: First Strike of the Sins

Chapter 2: First Strike of the Sins

A week had passed since Rush, Mimi, Elena, and Julia had come to the temple and so far, things were going great… mostly. Rush and Elena had no problems what so ever. Rush was always up for a game of soccer, football, or any other sport with Ria, Clay, and Omi; he shared the same liking for technology that Kim did; and he'd even worked up the nerve of foolishness to ask Julia out a few times. Unfortunately for him, Julia refused every time. Elena was probably having an even better time. She occasionally joined the boys in soccer games; knew enough French so that she and Mimi could have conversations that no one else could understand (except maybe Kimiko); and she was the first of the new students to use any of the Shen Gong Wu, specifically the Golden Tiger Claws. Julia and Mimi were having a great time too, but they had their own small problems. Julia and Kim were becoming good friends, there was no doubt about that. But because Kim had that slight dislike of the Australian girl, they occasionally got into arguments, which would quickly be stopped by Rai. Other than that, she had no problems what so ever. As for Mimi, well, she and Omi didn't get along so well. On the way back to the Temple, Mimi had mistaken Omi for a young boy and treated him as such. As it turned out, Omi was almost four months older than her. But as they say, first impressions are everything, and the two had remained on each others bad sides since then.

But now a week had passed since that day at the Hong Kong airport and the gang had finally gotten around to celebrating their recent defeat of Wuya. They'd made a pool by having Clay make a large crater in the ground and Omi filling it with water and Master Fung was grilling pork chops (and in the case of a few people, tofu chops) not far off. The girls were lounging by the pool, chatting away about seemingly random things while the boys were playing soccer a ways away. Occasionally, Kim drifted away from the conversation to watch the boys. Almost every time she turned her head, by some amazing coincidence, the ball was slamming into Rai's face and she couldn't help but laugh hysterically.

Omi slammed his foot into the soccer ball and sent it flying towards Clay in the goal. Clay dove in the way and managed to block it. Unfortunately, the ball went bouncing off of him and flew into a small grove of trees near by. "My bad!" Clay called out. "I got it!"

Clay walked over to the grove, not expecting the ball to come soaring passed his head before he even got half way there and straight into the goal he'd just left. Clay glanced over his shoulder to the goal. "What in the name of my great granddaddies world famous Pork and Beans just happened?" he muttered to himself. He turned back to the grove and couldn't believe what he saw.

There she stood, smiling smugly at the look on Clay's face. She had her hands placed on her hips, just between the waist line of her black mini skirt and the hem of her yellow tank top. A few locks of her golden blond hair were hanging over her shoulder. "So, whose team am I on?" Saya asked as she flipped her hair back behind her shoulder.

Clay stepped forward slowly, not believing what he was seeing. "Saya?" he asked. "Is that really you?"

Saya chuckled. She walked up to Clay, getting as close as possibly and pressing their bodies together and placing her hands on his shoulders. "Gee, I don't know." She said, "Why don't you tell me." Saya pressed her lips against Clay's, kissing him chastely and lovingly for the first time in over half a year.

By this time, the girls had joined Rai, Omi, and Rush in watching this reunion. Rai, Kim, and Omi watched with smiles on their faces, knowing exactly what this moment meant for those tow. The others, however, just stared in utter confusion. They had no idea that Saya even existed, much less that Clay was in a relationship with her. Rush was going to ask Omi what was going on, but Clay and Saya broke apart before he got the chance and walked over to them.

Saya kneeled down in front of Omi, getting down to an eye to eye level, and smiled. "Hey, Omi! How've you been little bro?" she asked happily. Omi jumped into her arms and hugged her tightly… a bit too tightly. "Ugh… Omi, could you let go please? You're kind of chocking me."

Omi pulled away from his sister, embarrassed. "Sorry, Saya. I'm just so happy to see you again." Saya just smiled and gave Omi another hug before getting back up to talk to everyone else.

"What's this? I thought I said no unexpected team mates, Rai, Kim." She laughed.

Both Rai and Kim blushed. "Hey, they're not ours!" Kim pleaded.

"Though that's not to say they haven't been trying." Clay whispered into Saya's ear. "I hope you managed to get some ear plugs while you were gone."

Saya's eyes almost popped out of her head when she heard this. "Really?" she asked in a sort of semi-astonishment. "Well, I knew you two were rebellious, but I didn't think you'd take my note that seriously."

"Ugh," Omi groaned, "At least you didn't have to listen to it late at night. I still can't get the disturbing images out of my head." Omi grimaced at the mental picture that had just popped into his head.

Saya giggled again before turning back to Clay. "Those two have gotten pretty close, huh?" She asked. "Who knows, pretty soon they might not be the only ones. What do you say to that, Clay?" Clay could only blush as Saya kissed him on the cheek.

Saya went on to introduce herself to the others and then they went back over to the pool to tell Master Fung and Dojo the good news. Everything was perfect for the rest of the day. Everyone ate, swam in the pool, played sports like soccer and pool games like chicken, and just enjoyed each others company. Nothing could've possibly ruined that day… that is, until Dojo started twitching and flicking his head around. That could only mean one thing. "We've got a new Wu on our hand's people!" Dojo announced.

ICELAND

Dojo grumbled angrily as he and the gang flew over the small island country known as Iceland. "First there where four, then five, then it went back to four again, then they doubled, and now it's up to nine!" the dragon complained as he began to descend to the snow ground below. "Can't they pick a number and stick with it?"

Dojo landed next to a small grove of snow covered evergreens. There were no people, towns, or any sign of civilization for miles; only ice, snow, trees, and mountains. The dark clouds over head indicated that there might be a blizzard in the near future.

The nine teenagers jumped off of Dojo's back so he could shrink down to his usual size and give then instructions. They were looking for a small golden statue of a cricket called the Lucky Cricket. According to Dojo, the user would be granted amazing luck in whatever activity they were doing. However, there were consequences. Apparently, the user would have equally back luck later on. For example, should some guy use the Lucky Cricket to get _lucky_ with his girlfriend (Dojo was directing this towards Rai and Kim), he'd probably end up getting her pregnant. So, their mission was to find the Lucky Cricket, fight over it in a showdown if need be, and bring it back to the temple, all of which was to be done without activating it, because who knows what would happen if it did.

They split into three groups. Rai and Kim immediately clung to each other, as did Clay and Saya. Omi, Mimi, and Rush went off to the south. Elena ended up joining Clay and Saya's team and they headed northeast. And that, to Kimiko's displeasure, stuck Julia with Raimundo and Kimiko, who headed northwest.

Omi, Dojo, Mimi and Rush were slowly making their way through a forest. The snow on the ground reached up to Omi's knees, which really isn't saying much. Mimi and Rush were busily looking for the Lucky Cricket, taking directions from Dojo whose senses seemed to be screwed up by the cold. Omi seemed to be looking as well, but he was really busy with another matter, however. For the longest time he had the strangest feeling that they were being followed. Whether it were just some of Jack's robots or something else he couldn't be sure, but he knew it was a bigger threat than usual.

"So, Omi," Rush called while searching a bush. "You and the others have been searching for these Shen Gong Wu for a while now, right? Any thing in particular that we should be worried about?"

"Yeah," Mimi agreed. "It seems like artifacts as powerful as these would attract more than just us."

"Well," Omi started to collect his thoughts as he jumped from branch to branch in a tree. "Usually all we have to worry about is Jack Spicer and his robots. Occasionally we run into other people like Katnappe or Tubbimura. We haven't had to worry about Chase or Hannibal for over six months now, and I haven't seen Wuya since we stopped her a week ago. Other than that, nothing worth mentioning really."

"You mean you haven't heard that the Sins are in town?"

Omi poked his head through the pin needles of his tree and looked directly up. Standing at the top of that very tree was Wuya sporting a brand new, very revealing outfit. Omi's jaw would've dropped to the ground, but the angle of his head made that kind of difficult. "What? You don't like it?" Wuya asked as if she were talking to a friend. "I figured I'd go back to my old wardrobe. I'm surprised it still fits."

Like Omi, Rush (and for some reason Dojo) were completely immobilized by this new, scantily clad Wuya. That left it up to Mimi to confront her. "You must be Wuya. I heard you got a pretty good butt whooping a while back. What do you say we make that two in one week?"

"And who're you, and what's with the French accent?" Wuya sneered

"First off, I'm French." Mimi said glaring at Wuya and cracking her knuckles. "And the names Mimi, one of the four newest members of the Xiaolin Order and soon to be the proud owner of my own bitch, if you catch my drift."

Wuya could only laugh at the red heads cockiness. As quickly as she had appeared, Wuya vanished into nothing and reappeared behind Mimi, latching onto the French girls wrists and restraining them behind her back. "Oh please! If you haven't gotten the memo, this bathing suit comes with an upgrade. I doubt that the Dragons of Fire, Water, Earth, Wind, and Lightning combined couldn't stop me now." Wuya shifted one of Mimi's wrists into her other hand and moved her free hand in front of her. She clenched it into a fist and released the green flame of her dark magic. "What makes you think a noobie like you can stop the Sin of Lust alone?"

"Why do you keep saying the word _sin_ like it has some sort of significance?" Mimi narrowed her eyes as she glared at Omi, Rush, and Dojo who were still gawking at Wuya. Amazingly, the message got through to one of them and Omi snapped back to his senses. It was no surprise really, Omi and Mimi had gotten into arguments before and he knew what she was capable of. Long story short, he was found six hours later hanging from the roof by his underwear. But that wasn't the point right now. Mimi was in trouble and, seeing as how he was the only one who could actually move, he had to help her. But how?

CLAY SAYA AND ELENA

"Fist of Tebigong!"

Clay slammed the golden fist into the trunk of a tree, splitting it in two and letting the upper half fall to the ground with a thundering thud. Saya sighed and rubbed her temple trying to figure out how to explain this to Clay while Elena just laughed in the background with her arms crossed. Saya walked over to Clay and snatched the Fist of Tebigong off of his hand. "Um, Clay, honey, there's really no reason to destroy the trees, alright. We're just looking for the Lucky Cricket, ok?" she asked.

"What? You want to search every tree branch by branch?" Clay asked. "This is much quicker and-." But before Clay could finish he found himself almost completely covered in snow and pin needles. He looked over to the tree to find his girlfriends standing next to it with her first pressed against the trunk. "Now see, I can't do that!"

"That's still no reason for destroying innocent trees. And don't say I sound like some kind of tree hugger, 'cause I'm not one." Saya said as she walked over to another tree and punched it as well. Against, an immense amount of snow and pin needles fell to the ground but something else came along with it. It was a golden statue of a cricket about the size of Clay's fist. "See Clay," Saya bent over to pick up the statue and then turned around holding it in one hand and doing the victory sign with the other. "Quick, simple, and harmless."

"Uh, guys, we kind of have a problem."

Clay and Saya turned back to Elena who, up to this point, had been completely forgotten. Elena was being retrained by two of Jack Spicer's robots and the self proclaimed boy genius was hovering right next to them. "Why didn't you warn me about red headed psychopaths with robots?" Elena asked, annoyed.

Jack snapped his fingers and one of the robots produced a roll of duct tap from its chest compartment and used it to silence Elena. "Ok, I'll make this easy one you." Jack sneered. "Hand over the Lucky Cricket and hot stuff over there goes free. Otherwise…" Jack snapped his fingers again. This time three shadowy figures emerged from the trees behind him: Katnappe, Tubbimura, and Vlad. "Well, let's just say that four against two is fair in my book.

Clay and Saya cringed and glanced each other, but it didn't take long for them to read each other and formulate a quick plan. Saya stepped forward, tossing the Lucky Cricket in her hand. "Fine Jack, you win. We'd rather lose some Wu than lose a team mate." She tossed the statue one more time before flinging it at Jacks forehead with all her strength. Jack fell back and clenched his forehead, yelling in pain. From the sound of it, he was probably bleeding. Clay took this opportunity to take out the two robots and rip the duct tap from Elena's mouth while Saya held off Katnappe, Tubbimura and Vlad.

Jack painstakingly staggered back to his feet. He was the first to notice that the Lucky Cricket had landed on the ground a few yards away. "Forget them!" he called, "Get the Cricket!" having heard Jacks order, all six of them and Jack himself dove for it. They all managed to latch onto it at the same time just as it began to glow, signaling the beginning of a showdown. "Ok, I challenge all of you to a… one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight… an eight way Xiaolin-." Jack stopped himself when he realized what he'd just said. "Wait a sec, eight? Me, kat, tubbi, Vlad, Clay, Saya, and the new girl. Who's the eighth hand?"

A cough caught everyone's attention. In between Katnappe and Vlad was the owner of the eighth hand. It was a slender young woman about Jacks age. She had a long main of auburn colored hair wearing a long, plain white, form fitting dress. Jack lost himself for a moment, thinking that she was, in his terms, the hottest chick he'd ever seen. But he quickly snapped back to his senses and continued. "And who the heck are you?"

The girl looked at him, giving him an emotionless, uncaring look. "You can call me Sloth." She said. Her words seemed as cold as the ice and snow around them as the passed through the ears of everyone around. "And I challenge you all to an eight way Xiaolin Showdown."

RAI KIM AND JULIA

Everyone had been surprisingly quiet ever since they separated from the rest of the group, leaving only the quiet moaning of the northern winds to sound. There had been no argument, no fight, nothing. It just seemed that nobody felt like talking and just wanted to do the job they'd come to do. This seemed a bit disturbing to Rai. Over the past week, he had already picked up on the growing tension between Kim and Jewel. He could tell that Kim was getting jealous of all the time that he and Julia were spending together. He also knew better than to think that Julia was interested in him. They'd been best friends from the time that they were five years old up until she moved to Australia, and Julia had made it clear that she wasn't interested in him, and with good reason. But that wasn't the point. The point was that Rai knew why they weren't talking to each other, but why neither was talking to him he had no idea.

Rai bent back up from the bush he'd been looking through. He stretched and cracked his back to relieve the pressure on his spine. "Hey guys," he called out, "I don't think we're going to find it here. Let's go check if the others' have found it yet."

Julia came walking over casually as Rai had expected them both to do. But Kim didn't show up. Maybe she didn't hear him. Rai was pretty sure he'd seen her climbing into a tree to look for the Lucky Cricket a while ago. Maybe she'd been tree hopping and gotten lost. _No, _Rai thought, _she's smarter than that._ "Hey Jewel, you seen Kim?"

"Nope." Julia answered. "Haven't seen her since we got here. You sure she didn't go tree hopping or something?"

"That's what I was thinking too. But she's smarter than that." Rai said.

As if some supernatural being had heard them, Kim came hurtling down from the trees above, managing to land on Rai's shoulders with her thighs around the back of his head. Rai ended up losing his balance and crashing face first into the snow with Kim sitting on his back laughing as if she were watching a special on Comedy Central. Julia couldn't help but join in her laughter.

Rai lifted his head a best as he could and spat out the mouth full of dirt and snow he'd just inhaled. "Ok," he coughed, "I'm gunna go out on a limb here and say you were trying for the other way around. Kim knocked him on the head and called him a pervert playfully before getting off his back and helping him to his feet.

Julia clapped her hands. "Way to go, Juliet. You've successfully burned and frozen Romeo at the same time." She said sarcastically. "Now, if you two are done fooling around, we'd better find the others. Though I'd be happy to leave if you're just getting started."

Kimiko knew what she was up to. Julia was trying to discreetly tell Kim that she knew that she and Rai were together and that she wasn't after Rai in any way what so ever. For the most part, Kim believed her. But still, there was always that one part of her brain that told her that the Australian girl was lying through her teeth. Kim wasn't even sure why she was so jealous. Jewel seemed like a nice enough person to hang out with and they did consider each other friends. Maybe it was just because of the fact that Jewel and Rai are old friends. Or maybe it was just some primal emotion. Who knows? All Kim wanted at the moment was to go back to China, sit by a fire back at the temple wrapped in a blanket so that she could warm up.

Rai and Kim ignored Julia's comment and the three of them started back to where they'd started from. But just as they'd started walking, a strange figure came walking out of the trees. It was a man wearing a cloak, much like the one Saya used to wear, only this one had no hood. From what they could tell, this guy was some sort of military soldier. His bleach blond hair was extremely short, like it had been shaved off completely recently. He also had five o-clock shadow and a cigar clenched in between his teeth. From what they could tell, his body hidden beneath the cloak was extremely muscular, especially the arms and chest area. "You three ain't goin' nowhere. So says the Sin of Wrath." With that, the man ripped the cloak from his body to reveal he was wearing nothing but a pair of camouflage shorts and a black vest. And like they'd guessed, he worked out a lot. But that's not what caught them off guard. What shocked them was that both of his arms seemed to be cut off at the shoulder area and had been replaced by a pair of cybernetic arms. The right arm had three claw like fingers while the left hand had been replaced by a triple barreled machine gun. "Now, who's goin' first?" he asked as he spat his cigar to the ground.

* * *

(a/n) not one, not two, but three big cliff hangers and it's only the second chapter. now as some of you might've already guessed, Wuya is going to have a much bigger role this time around, obviously. and the other six sins will as well. I've already introduced Pride, Wrath, and Sloth, and Wuya has taken the place of Lust. Now I want you guys to tell me what you think the other three Sins (Gluttony, Envy, and Greed) will look and act like. one more thing. just for the fun of it, I want to here who you guys think Omi and Jack will end up with and what two this OcxOc pair will be. just curious. until next time, see ya. 


	3. Chapter 3: Dashi's Diary

Chapter 3: Dashi's Diary

Master Fung stood quietly in from of a book shelf in the temple library, quietly searching through an ancient looking book. This book was over fifteen hundred years old, with pages made of parchment and the spine bound by brittle leather. This book was considered to be the most precious in the library, it was under constant guard. Only the head of the temple and those he gave permission were allowed to read what was written in those pages, and with good reason.

This was the diary of Grand Master Dashi.

Dashi had written this from the time he'd joined the Xiaolin Order to the time he'd hidden the last of the Shen Gong Wu. Hidden within its pages was every secret and every memory he'd every had. Fung had only looked through this book once before, about fifteen years ago, when he decided it was time to determine the next generation of Xiaolin Dragons. But now Fung searched its passages for a different reason. Something in the air and sent a shiver up his spine, a bad omen indeed. The only time he ever felt a chill like that was when a great evil from years ago had returned, like Chase, Hannibal, or Wuya. This could only mean that the world was, once again, in mortal danger. Fung flipped another page and began to read, finding that this was the page he'd been searching for.

_May 17, 539 A.D. _

_GONE_

_She's gone. I should've known this would happen, I've seen the look in her eye. Her lust for power forced her to leave with someone calling himself "The Sin of Pride". I doubt that she'll ever return. I just don't get it though, we thought that we could never be together because her parents had already married her off and she'd been thrilled when she told me that her husband was dead. But now, not even half a year later, she's gone. She said she loved me, buy now I see that the only thing she loves is power._

Master Fung sighed when the paragraph broke off. He'd read this passage the last time he'd read the diary, but took no note of it, thinking that at the time it was unimportant. Sure, it was common knowledge that Dashi had defeated Wuya and saved the world from ten thousand years of darkness. But not many knew that before that, he'd faced an even greater evil, and organization calling themselves The Seven Deadly Sins. No one knew who they were or what their intentions were, only that they were comprised of seven members and were considered by many, at the time, the ultimate evil. Fung flipped a few more pages until he found another entry concerning the sins.

_June 29, 539 A.D._

_THE SINS_

_I couldn't believe my eyes at first. She was back (wearing one of the hottest outfits I've ever seen, I might add)! Unfortunately, she's not alone. She's joined the Seven Deadly Sins. I don't know and honestly don't care what position she's taken, I only care that's she's joined them in the first place. I fought them today and lost… badly. And only because I couldn't bring myself to hurt her, but she could've killed me easily. But their leady, Pride, had other plans and the vanished before I had so much as a broken bone. Don't get me wrong though, I'm still in excruciating pain._

_Something tells me that I haven't seen that last of them. But I will stop them some how, no matter what the risk. Maybe those new Shen Gong Wu I've been working on will be able to help. I should probably finish those when I get the feeling back in my legs._

The next few days entries were either short or black, but another interesting one came up shortly.

_July 5, 539 A.D._

_THEY'RE BACK_

_I battled one of the Sins again today, some Japanese Samurai calling himself Wrath. I won the fight. Being a Samurai, he couldn't accept defeat and wanted to kill himself, I turned away as he drove his sword into his own stomach. O turned back after I heard the body hit the ground, figuring I should give it a proper burial. But something happened. Just as I turned back, a glowing green figure, nothing more than a skeleton thing figure of pure energy, rose up from the Samurai's body and vanished with the wind. I can only guess that that was the chi spirit of the Wrath Sin. The Samurai had been an innocent man, possessed by the spirit of a demon. The Wrath Sin may be gone for now, but it will be back… with a vengeance most likely. But I wonder, if the Samurai had been possessed by a dark chi spirit, could this mean that she is also. Maybe if I can find a way to remove the spirits from the Seven Sins physical bodies I can save the innocent people they've possessed. I'll have to think this over._

Fung carefully closed the old book and replaced it in its spot on the shelf. Say that Dashi was right and the Sin of Wrath, along with the other six, had returned to exact their revenge. If that were the case, then it was up to his nine students to defeat them again. It wasn't that he thought they couldn't do it; they'd done miraculous things in the past (or at least five of them had), and he had no doubt that they could pull another miracle off. But the ominous winds that these so called Sins put into the air gave him the feeling that they were in for more than they'd ever faced before. But then what could it possibly be about this new threat that made him so nervous?

_What indeed._

Master Fung whirled around in an attempt to catch who'd spoken, but found no one there. Only shelves upon shelves of books. Fung rubbed his temple and sighed again. "I'm getting to old for this." He muttered before making his way out of the library for a nice long nap.

ICELAND

"Canine Crossbow!"

Three dog shaped darts came shooting out of the crossbows barrel and headed straight for Jack, steadily gaining on him even as he raced away with the Fancy Feet Shen Gong Wu. The showdown was simple enough, successfully find and capture the Lucky Cricket (which had transformed into a real cricket for the showdown) in order to win. Jack, Tubbimura, Katnappe, and Vlad had bet the Serpents Tail, Jetbootsu, Manchurian Musca and Fancy Feet against the Mantis Flip Coin, Wings of Tinabi, and Shard of Lightning which Clay, Saya, and Elena used and the Canine Crossbow which Sloth had stolen from Jack. So far, Tubbimura, Katnappe, Vlad, Clay and Saya had already been knocked out by Sloth, leaving only Jack and Elena (who was faring quite well, seeing as how this was her first Showdown) to far against her.

The darts struck jack in the back with a fiery explosion and Jack stumbled to the ground. Elena watched from behind a boulder. She'd hidden there in order to catch her breath. It was hard enough to catch that dang cricket without the threat of being blown up. She glanced over her shoulder to make sure the coast was clear. Luckily for her, Sloth had resumed searching for the cricket, thinking that she'd eliminated all the competition. Elena raised the wings of Tinabi into the air when she spotted the cricket, activated them, and went soaring after it. She almost had it, only inches away from grasping it in her hand. But before she could, she felt a small impact on her side followed by the hellfire explosion that knocked her away.

Sloth chuckled smugly as she slowly made her way over to where Elena had been. She knelt down slowly and gently nudged the cricket into her hand. The cricket made a white flash and the area returned to normal. Sloth stood with her arms crossed over her chest, glaring down at the others, disgusted by their failure. "You four are pathetic." She stated, indicating Jack and his crew. "You three on the other hand," she turned her gaze to Clay, Saya, and Elena, "… have some skill. Perhaps I should send Envy after you. I'm sure he'd get a real kick out of your strengths."

"Envy, Sloth, since when did people start naming themselves after sins?" Saya grumbled as Clay helped her back to her feet.

Sloth only sneered at the other seven before snapping her fingers and disappearing in a puff of smoke with the nine Shen Gong Wu. Afterwards, the monks ran off to find their friends and Jacks group disbanded. Katnappe, Tubimurra, and Vlad wanted no more to do with Jack for the time being, claiming, "You're on your own, bucko. I need a cat nap." "No amount of free sushi is worth this kind of punishment." and "I'll kick the living tar out of you later." For some reason, Jack didn't seem to care. He simply dismissed them with a wave of his hand. For the first time in as long as he could remember, he had something on his mind other than world domination.

Jack snapped back to reality and scratched the back of hi head. "That's it, I'm going home, making me some nachos, and watching Hostel. I need to get my mind back on evil." With that, he activated the Helabot and flew off.

Unknown to anyone else, Pride loomed overhead, atop a tree. He had been the soul witness to the previous showdown and was quite intrigued by what happened after. "Sloth did quite well for her first mission. I suppose a reward is in order, though I would've preferred it if she would've killed them. But that Jack boy…" Pride paused, thinking over the blank expression he'd seen on the evil boys face. "He may come in handy in the future."

OMI, MIMI AND RUSH

Mimi and Rush watched in complete awe as Omi and Wuya battled it out. Mimi was impressed that Omi was even able to move, considering that Rush was completely immobilized by just the sight of Wuya. As for Rush, well, not surprisingly he couldn't take his eyes off of her chest.

Wuya's hand blazed with green fire as she slashed at the trunk of an evergreen, sending it toppling over in Omi's direction. Omi leapt up, launched himself from the top of the falling tree, and dove at Wuya head first. Wuya stood straight up, extending one arm out in front of her to generate a force field. Omi only smirked as he used his water powers to launch himself right over Wuya's force field, ricocheted off of a tree, and slam his foot into the back of Wuya's head. Wuya stumbled forward, but managed to keep her balance. The witch swung around and slashed at Omi with her dagger like nails. Omi took the full force of the blow and fell onto his back, knocking the wind out of him.

Wuya hovered over the short monk, glaring at him in her victory, barely able to wait to finish him off. "You know," she said, "I would love to kill you right here and now… but I have other plans for you and your little friends. So consider this the last time you walk away from a battle with the Sin of Lust." With that, Wuya vanished with the wind, away to put together her evil schemes.

As soon as Wuya was gone, Mimi rushed over to help Omi and Rush snapped back to reality. Mimi knelt down net to Omi, who was still lying on the snow breathing heavily, and helped him sit up. "Go find the others!" she ordered. Rush was still a little dazed from his trance, but managed to run off in search of his other friends. Mimi turned back to the monk in her arms. His breathing was getting softer and steadier, but the hit must've been like slamming into the ground after falling fifteen feet to do something like this. "Omi, are you gunna be ok?"

Omi smiled at her weakly and nodded. "I've been… through worse than this." He groaned. To Mimi's amazement, Omi actually staggered back to his feet and managed to stand up straight. "What I want to know is how Wuya got so powerful so quickly." He said, this time clearly.

"Well," Mimi said as she, too, stood up again, "She did say, and I quote 'This bathing suit comes with an upgrade.' Plus she kept calling herself Lust."

Omi rubbed his chin (or at least what little of a chin he had). "Yes, that was most peculiar…"

I would make a joke about the writer right now," Mimi stated, "But I don't want to break the forth wall and the readers probably want to get on with the story."

"Then I suggest you take your own suggestion." Omi said.

Mimi blushed slightly and turned to where Rush had run off to. Sure enough, the South African boy was running back with Clay, Saya, and Elena right behind him. No sign of Rai, Kim, or Julia however.

RAI, KIM, AND JULIA

Rai grunted in pain as his back slammed against a tree, Wrath's mechanical claw pinning him against the trunk. The cyborg grinned at him darkly as he pointed his gun arm towards Kimiko and Julia, who were both lying unconscious in the snow behind him. "Now I'm gunna make you choose." Wrath growled. "Who's gunna die first? Little miss surfer girl…" he moved his arm to point the gun barrels towards Julia. "Or maybe the Chinese girl." He moved his arm again and took aim at Kimiko.

"She's Japanese, you racist dipstick." Rai grunted.

"Who cares." Wrath barked. "Those Asians all look the same and she's going to die soon anyway, no matter who you choose."

Rai cringed as Wrath pushed the base of his claw against his chest harder. Rai never actually thought he'd be faced with a situation like this, having to choose one of two people close to him to die first. It's a hard decision, even when they're both going to die along with himself anyway. It was a choice Rai never wanted to make… and one he wasn't going to make any time soon. But the more he struggled against Wrath's grip, the tighter his grip became.

Wrath rotated his gun once and it made a clicking sound. "You got 'til the count of three to give me an answer or I'll just start shooting randomly." He said. "One…"

Rai looked over Wraths shoulder to get one last look at the girl he loved and one of his closest friends before they left this realm forever. But to his amazement, they were gone. And standing off in the background were five figures, two of which were holding two more unconscious figures in their arms. Rai smirked just as Wrath muttered "Two…"

"THREE!"

Rai summoned every ounce of wind power he had in him to push himself out of Wraths grip just before a bolt of lightning came crashing down from the heavens, striking Wrath like a bulky lightning rod. Wrath collapsed onto the ground to reveal Saya standing right behind him with one arm raised into the air and a smug smirk on her face.

"You guys have great timing, you know that?" Rai asked.

"You know, I'd have thought that someone whose girlfriend is **unconscious** wouldn't have time to joke around." Saya said.

"I wasn't joking." Rai pleaded. "You guys really do have great timing. Those two were about to get killed!"

"Hey, I don't know if you guys have noticed, but two of us are unconscious and we've all gotten at least minor injuries, except for Rush over here." Elena broke in. "I think it's about time we head back to the temple and tell Master Fung about all this."

"Agreed."

THE TEMPLE

Dojo landed just outside the temple and his nine passengers jumped off of his back. By now, Kim and Jewel had woken up, though both of them had splitting headaches. Because of this, Rai had to help Kim walk into the temple, while Elena offered to help Julia. Inside, Master Fung was already waiting for them, meditating silently in the meditation hall while his students shuffled in.

"Master Fung," Omi announced, "We have most disturbing news!"

"You have each fought and lost against three strangers naming themselves after one of the seven deadly sins." Master Fung said without so much as blinking.

"I have got to learn how you do that." Rai said.

"This is no laughing matter, Raimundo!" Master Fung snapped. "These sins could quite possibly be the most dangerous enemies you've ever faced. It wasn't exactly a picnic the last time they showed up."

"Last time?" Elena asked.

Master Fung only nodded as he reached into his sleeve and pulled out a small leather book. With a flick of his wrist, the book flew out of his hand straight to Omi who caught the book after a few seconds of fumbling around in the air. "Do any of you know what this book is?" Master Fung asked. Everyone just shook their heads. "This is the diary of Grand Master Dashi. Within its passages lies every aspect of his life from when he entered the Xiaolin Order to when he hid the last of the Shen Gong Wu. Every secret, every feeling, every person, absolutely everything."

"But what does this have to do with the Seven Sins?" Omi asked as he struggled to undo the diaries latch.

"I will explain," Master Fun said, "But it will take some time for you to fully understand. Some of this you may not believe or accept, but I can guaranty that all of this is crucial to the past of the Seven Sins."

Master Fung went on to explain everything about the Sins. Their origins, their plans, their connection to Dashi, it all fell together piece by piece. As Master Fung said, some parts were completely unbelievable and they couldn't accept. But all of this was the blood chilling truth. Dashi had battled and defeated the Sins fifteen hundred years ago, and now the task had fallen onto their shoulders.

LOCATION UNKNOWN

The room was dark, lit dimly only by a glowing orb on a pedestal in the center. It was completely circular, spanning about ten yards in diameter. Around the edge of the room sat seven thrones and on six of these thrones sat their owners.

The first was Envy: the newest recruit. Envy was a scrawny boy of about fourteen, maybe fifteen years. His attire consisted of a pair of sneakers, a very baggy pair of blue-jeans, held up only by a loose belt up at his waist, and a plain black T-shirt with the seven pointed star on it. His shaggy brown hair covered most of his face, leaving only from his nose down in sight and a thin slit in between two locks of hair for one of his eyes. Envy had been confronted by Pride not long ago and offered his current position. Pride had seen the envy of others in the boys' eyes and knew right away that he was perfect.

In the next chair sat Sloth: the beautiful young redhead who had won the Lucky Cricket in the showdown. Sloth had the seven pointed star on the stomach area of her dress. Unlike Envy, Sloth had been tricked into her position. She'd been worked hard for her entire life while her caretakers did nothing. All she'd wanted was a break, and Pride came to her one night and offered her so much more. Selfishly desperate to escape her current lifestyle, she took Prides deal without even asking about any fine print. Long story short, she went from a physical slave to s psychological slave.

Next to Sloth sat Greed: an eight teen year old. Unlike the Envy, he was dressed to match his title: a pair of black leather dress shoes; dark blue dress pants with a brown leather belt; and a plain white button up shirt with a red tie covered by a dark blue blazer (a/n: totally screams rich snob, right?). Green had the seven pointed star on the left shoulder of his blazer. When Pride found him, the boy had had nothing. He lived on the streets, picking scraps from trash bins. Pride came to him one rainy day and asked him what he wanted most. Greed said that he just wanted to live the good life, and got his wish. Now, when not on active duty as the Sin of Greed, he lived in a huge mansion with servants tending to his every order, a personal gift from Pride himself.

The Next chair was empty. This is where Wuya, being the Sin of Lust, would normally sit. Wuya had never thought that she would regain her status as a Sin, but fate works in mysterious ways, as they say. The other six Sins were waiting for Wuya to arrive so they could get on with their meeting.

In the fifth chair sat the Sin of Gluttony. Like Wuya, he was chosen for his position because he already had what was required instead of wanting it. Gluttony was a huge man, easily weighing three hundred and fifty pounds. But, despite his flabby exterior, his weight was mostly muscle. He wore an enormous suit of body armor, adding a good hundred or so pounds. On his chest plate was a strange symbol: a golden circle with a silver L lying on top of it. To finish up, he had a red cape attached to the back of his armor. The seven pointed star was just below the symbol on his chest plate. Like Envy, his brown hair was shaggy and covered his eyes

In the second to last chair sat Wrath: The man with the cybernetic arms who brutally attacked and almost killed Raimundo, Kimiko, and Julia. Wrath had the seven pointed star painted onto his arm with the triple barreled gun. Wrath was a former military soldier who lost both of his arms back in the Vietnam War. He returned home with a purple heart, but still felt betrayed by his country and swore he'd get even. He lived the next thirty two years of his live training to fight without his arms. Then Pride came to him one day and offered him the revenge he wanted and new arms. Wrath took the deal without so much as thinking.

And that just leaves the final throne, belonging to the leader of the Seven Deadly Sins: Pride. Pride had returned from his slumber to exact his revenge and fulfill the job he'd been sent here to do fifteen hundred years ago. He'd finally gathered seven new Sins and it was time to reveal their plan… that is, if the Sin of Lust showed up any time soon.

Greed slammed his fist on the side of his thrown from his lack of patients. "I am tired of waiting!" he shouted. "I say we forget Lust and begin this already!"

"Patients, Greed." Sloth said. "I'm sure Lust will be here any moment."

"Yeah, and if not," Wrath broke in, "I'll have something to say to her."

Gluttany laughed. "Please!" he bellowed, "You wouldn't lay a claw on her. I've seen the way you drool over her."

Wrath jumped out of his throne and pointed his gun at Gluttony. "What was that, you fat piece of…"

"Enough!" Envy shouted. "You're both acting like children."

"Oh, that says a lot coming from the kid who can take anything he wants from anyone!" Wrath snapped.

Envy stood up and pointed his hand at Wrath as it began to glow with a green flame. "That includes your shiny new arms." He said, "And I might take your legs too, just to piss you off even more."

"Now, this wouldn't be fighting over little old me, would it?" Wuya's voice rang through the chamber as she appeared from nothing in her throne. "Now, why don't you two quit your squabbling so we can get on with this. I want to be here just as much as the rest of you."

Wrath and Envy reluctantly took their seats so that the meeting could begin. "Thank you for finally showing up, Lust." Pride said. "Now then, since we have finally filled all seven positions in our organization, it is time to reveal our plans. As Lust knows, we failed fifteen hundred years ago and it is finally time to finish what we started."

"So what is it already?" Greed asked impatiently.

Pride looked down at Greed and the eyes on his helmet began to glow blood red. "We are going to end this miserable world."


	4. Chapter 4: Rivalry of Envy

Chapter 4: Rivalry of Envy

Dojo dove down to the ground and shrank back to his normal size as his nine passengers jumped from his back and landed on the ground. They'd landed just outside of Cancun, Mexico. Immediately, thoughts of late night parties and girls in bikinis started running through Rai, Clay, and Rush's heads. Rush couldn't help but laugh hysterically when Kim and Saya had to drag Rai and Clay away from the cities direction by their ears. _Thank god I'm single, _he thought. Julia, Elena, and Mimi ended up joining Rush in his fit of laughter. When Dojo asked Omi why he hadn't joined the other guys, Omi simply pointed to Clay and Rai who were cowering in their girlfriends' shadows and said, "That's why."

But, the gang hadn't come to Mexico for the sight seeing. They had a job to do. They were there to get a Shen Gong Wu called the Chimera's Breath. This Wu was a torch with a flame that never stopped burning. When the flame was blown on a jet of fire went shooting from it, incinerating anything in its path. A dangerous one in deed, which is exactly why they couldn't afford to lose to Jack Spicer or the Sins.

"Alright Dojo," Elena said after finishing her laughing session (Rush and Mimi were still going strong). "Point us in the right direction and we'll take it from there."

Dojo rubbed his chin as he went through his memories. "If I remember correctly, Dashi wanted to hide it in some ruins deep in the jungle." Julia was about to suggest that they head there, but Dojo managed to continue before she had the chance. "But, I was sick that week so he had to take a boat. So… the Chimera's Breath should be a few miles to the east and then we head straight down."

"But Dojo, that leads straight into the ocean." Omi explained.

"Hey, if you had to travel around an entire continent in a canoe you'd probably just screw the whole thing and chuck it in the ocean too." Dojo explained. "Dashi did have his short fuse."

Dojo perched himself on Omi's head as the group started towards the ocean. Omi was in the lead, followed by Elena, then Julia, then Mimi, and finally Rush. Kim Saya had disappeared some time ago with their boyfriends to give then the proper punishment. Rush and Julia were constantly joking about what the "proper punishment" meant. Omi didn't seem to get a single one of their comments, so Elena and Mimi had to explain. Omi shuttered as disturbing mental pictures began to enter his mind.

It had been what seemed like hours and they still had yet to reach the shore and the others still had yet to reappear. Conversations drifted from subject to subject until it finally landed on everyone's lives before they came to the temple. Omi and Dojo, having lived in the temple their whole lives, just kept quiet and continued walking. Rush told his same story about his life back in Africa: having graduated high school early he'd experienced quite a lot that the others hadn't yet. Julia told about her life back in Sydney. Interestingly enough, Julia had lived with the native aborigines far a few months. Elena said that back in Barcelona her father had been a professional bull fighter.

"A bull fighter! Wow… did you ever get in the ring with him?" Mimi asked sarcastically.

"Are you crazy?" Elena asked. "Those monsters would tear me in half!" everyone fell quiet for a time but the silence didn't last long at all. "So what about you, Mimi? What was your life like back in Paris?"

"Paris really isn't as great as everyone thinks. At least, it wasn't for me." Mimi explained. "I went to an all girls private school and my parents are dead set against me dating, unless he's a monk or something."

"I would've loved to go to an all girl's school." Julia broke in. when Mimi and Elena gave her confused looks, she quickly added, "I mean, a lot of the guys back in Australia are nice and all, but a lot more were just obnoxious, self centered jocks."

"Hey, I'd rather have thick headed jocks hit on me than have other girls hit on me." Mimi said. Elena, who'd been taking a drink from a water bottle at that exact moment, ended up spraying her drink out of her nose at Mimi's words and choking as she asked what she'd just said. "Oh yeah, there wasn't a lot of outside access at my old school, so about fifteen percent of the student population turned to each other, if you catch my drift. And Rush, you've got no right to make any smart ass comments here. You were in the exact same situation as I was."

The African boy gawked at the French girl in amazement. "How'd you know I went to an all boy's school?" he asked.

"Mind Reader Conch."

"Oh…**YOU READ MY MIND!?**"

"Hey, what else does a girl have to do on a Saturday night?" Mimi said nonchalantly.

"Hey guys," Dojo broke in, "I'd hate to interrupt your conversation..." _thank god I'm getting this all on tape. _"But we've reached the ocean and Omi need absolute quiet to concentrate, unless you guys want to start breathing salt water."

LOCATION UNKNOWN

"Envy!"

The shaggy haired teen appeared in council chamber at Prides call, ready to obediently carry out his superiors orders. "What can I do for you, Master Pride?" he asked as he bowed.

"Envy, I have received information that the Xiaolin monks are in Mexico, somewhere near Cancun. They've split into three separate groups for unknown reasons." Pride explained.

"You want me to go after them?" Envy asked.

Pride chuckled. "Precisely. However, as you may know, they've tried this tactic before. Wrath and Lust came back from their battles licking their wounds like kittens. Only Sloth came back in success."

"And you want me to follow her example." Envy said.

Again, Pride chuckled. "Exactly. However, I have specific orders for you. I want you to go after one of the smaller groups first. Use the power I bestowed upon you on one or both of them and then go after the larger group. That should make things a little easier for you." With that, Pride dismissed Envy with a wave of his hand. The teen thanked his master for the advice before disappearing to his mission.

MEXICO

Tropical birds scattered from the tree tops as Kimiko pushed her boyfriend up against a tree. She was giving Rai the "proper punishment" mention earlier; most of which included passionate and lustful kissing and slowly giving him what he wanted… way to slowly in his opinion. Kim had Rai pinned against a tree trunk and she'd just pulled away from the kiss after a good five oxygen less minutes or so. "You swear that you won't go after anyone else?" she huffed. Rai just thought that she was talking about ogling scantily clad girls in Cancun, but Kim was referring to someone in particular (**a/n hard to figure out who that is**). Rai probably would've been able to figure out who it was any other time, but he had other thing on his mid at the moment.

"I swear, already." Rai smirked.

Kim smiled at him seductively and said, "Good," before crashing their lips together again.

"Awe, isn't this precious." The voice came from the tree tops, breaking the once peaceful silence that the couple had been enjoying moments ago. "I bet Lust would get a kick out of this."

Rai and Kim broke apart and readied themselves for a fight. "Who's there?" Rai demanded.

A figure came down from the canopy. It was a boy about their age with shaggy blond hair who wore a pair of baggy blue jeans and a black T shirt with the symbol of the Sins on it: the seven pointed star.

There was no hesitation. As soon as Rai saw that star he rushed at the boy and tried to punch him across the face. Envy, however, managed to duck under Rai's attack sweep his leg under Rai and knock him onto his back. "That's weird. I thought a Shoku Warrior would know better than to rush recklessly into a fight like that… al well." Envy smiled at Rai menacingly as he raised his foot and slammed it against Rai's chest, knocking the wind out of him. "I've never been good with expectations anyway."

"Get the hell away from him!" Kimiko shouted as she summoned a fire ball to her hand. "Or you're in for one majorly bad sun burn."

Envy looked over to the Japanese girl amused. He seemed particularly interested in the flame she'd just summoned. He moved his foot off of Rai and started to make his way over to Kim at a slow pace. "Tell me, do you know why they call me Envy?" he asked. Kimiko remained silent. "Because, when I first got this gig I had nothing and wanted everything. Now that I'm with the Sins and can take anything from anyone." Kimiko cringed, thinking that he was going somewhere bad with this. "Including… **your fire powers!**"

Envy rushed at Kimiko with amazing speed, catching her off guard long enough for his hand to start glowing neon green and for him to slam his palm against the center of her chest. Immediately, Kim could feel her power being drained from her. She tried to break away from him, wanting to sever the transfer so that she'd at least still have half her power. But she couldn't move. Every nerve in her body had shut down completely.

Kimiko dropped to her knees. The teen closed his eyes and sighed as the power began to fill him, his black heart filling with the fire that Kimiko had been born with. Envy's eyes flashed open to reveal that they were literally filled with fire. "Now I see why this guy likes you so much." Envy said, looking down at Rai who was still lying on his back trying to catch his breath. "You've got… sorry, used to have a real flare about you." With that, Envy vanished with the wind.

As soon as Envy as gone Rai struggled back to his feet and rushed over to Kimiko's side. He knelt down beside her and wrapped one of his arms around her shoulders. "Kim, are you alright? He didn't hurt you did he?"

Kimiko just stared into space. She wanted to answer him, but all she could manage to do was make her jaw quiver. She wanted to turn and embrace him but she couldn't bring her body to move at all. "Kim…" Rai said quietly.

"He took it, Rai." Kim finally managed, "He took my fire away from me."

OMI, MIMI, RUSH, JULIA, AND ELENA

The group walked silently along the ocean floor with Omi in the lead concentrating on keeping the bubble they were in from bursting. It had been a while since they'd entered the water so they were sure that they were close to where the Chimera's Breath was. Of course, they would probably have found it by now if Dojo could give a straight direction for once. So far Dojo had told them that it was straight ahead, and then told them to turn around five minutes later; gave them three different directions at one time; and told them that is was directly upward. "I'm sorry kids." Dojo sniffled. "I must be allergic to this one."

"Tell us something we don't know." Omi grumbled.

"Hey, you concentrate on keeping us alive." Dojo snapped just before sneezing.

As the group pressed on, the water began to get darker due to the distance from the surface. More and more often they fount themselves almost walking into boulders, coral reeves, one or twice small sharks actually jumped through the air pocket that Omi was projecting. But all and all, things went quit smoothly, with the exception of Dojo constantly sneezing and changing his directions.

"Are we there yet?" Rush demanded after what he suspected to be an hour had passed by.

"Almost." Dojo sniffled angrily.

Amazingly, Dojo was right. Not much after Rush's question, Elena tripped over something and landed flat on her face. While Julia helped Elena back to her feet and Omi continued manipulating the water around them, Mimi, Rush, and Dojo took a look at what Elena had tripped over. It was a stick about a foot to a foot and a half in length with decorative carvings and paint on it. At one end of this stick was a small, white hot flame. A fire under water could only mean one thing: this was the Wu they were looking for. The Chimera's Breath.

Rush grinned smugly as he picked the torch off of the sea floor. "Way to go, Elena." He chuckled. "Who would've guessed that your big feet would've helped us out here?"

"**BIG FEET?** You're saying I have big feet?" Elena snapped. "Well, you'd better start running before one of these monsters is half way up your ass!"

"Oh, you went all 'Red Forman' on me, I'm so scared." Rush said sarcastically.

"It's not her you should be afraid of!"

A black blur broke through the roof of the bubble, grabbed Rush by his collar, and then went speeding back to the waters surface. Omi immediately took action by reforming the hole in the bubble and then launched said bubble straight up, chasing after Rush and his captor. The bubble exploded on contact with the air at the surface leaving Omi, Mimi, Elena, Julia and Dojo in the water. Floating a few yards away just above the waters surface were Rush and his captor, who they guessed to be one of the Seven Deadly Sins due to the seven pointed star on his shirt.

"I don't believe we've met." The boy called to the group. "I'm the Sin of Envy, and you are?... oh, wait, I don't care!" with that, Envy ripped the Chimera's Breath from Rush's hand and then tossed him into the water. "Now, I'm going to give you an off you'd be stupid to refuse. I'll give you back this stick and lat most of you go so long as the bald midget holds still for about ten seconds."

"Proposal denied!" Omi leapt from the water with amazing speed and latched onto the torch in Envy's hand. The Chimera's Breath began to give off a golden glow, signaling the beginnings of a Xiaolin Showdown. "Sin of Envy," Omi announced, "I challenge you to a Xiaolin Showdown!"

"Yeah, way to go, Omi!" Mimi called out.

Envy sneered in Mimi's direction. "Silence, mortal!" he shouted. Envy pointed his free hand at Mimi and the others and, to everyone's surprise, shot a fire ball directly at them. Everyone barely managed to escape by diving under the water. "How did you do that?" Omi demanded.

"Oh, that little trick. Well… let's just say that you're Japanese friend isn't so hot anymore. And if you don't understand that…"

"Yeah, I get it." Omi broke in. "You somehow stole Kimiko's ability to control fire. And what is it with people thinking I'm so dim witted?"

There was a short pause, but then Envy broke the silence by getting back on topic. "Anyway, I accept your challenge, oh great bald one." Envy laughed. "My Lucky Cricket against your Golden Tiger Claws."

"Agreed, but I also call a Shen Yi Bu Dare. My Reversing Mirror against Kimiko's Dragon Element!"

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me! If I win then you return Kimiko's powers to her." Omi explained. "And I'd take the challenge, because if you deny it, you automatically lose everything." Omi grinned menacingly as Envy growled in anger and the others cheered from the water below.

"Fine, let's get this over with." Envy growled.

"The game is dodge the lightning. First to be struck loses!"

"Let's go, Xiaolin Showdown!"

Up from the sea shot at least two dozen stone pillars, each perfectly cylindrical and arranged in six rows by six columns. A twenty fifth pillar also shot up for the spectators. The sky above darkened with pitch black clouds and thunder began to boom in the distance and within no time at all lightning was crashing all round them, but never striking the arena for the moment. Omi and Envy found themselves on opposite corners of their arena as the waters below began to crash against the bases of the pillars.

"Gong Yi Tanpei!"

Immediately, two lightning bolts shot down from the clouds, heading directly for the pillars on which Omi and Envy stood. Envy successfully jumped out of the way just in time while Omi vanished through the Golden Tiger Claws and reappeared a few pillars away. Both Omi and Envy were to preoccupied staring each other down that they didn't even notice that both of their original pillars had crumbled into the sea after being struck. The clouds flashed, signaling that two more lightning bolts were on their way. This time, Envy summoned his stolen fire powers to launch himself across the arena while Omi simply jumped a few pillars away. Again, the two pillars that were struck crumbled and fell into the waters below. This music less montage of jumping, flashing lights, and loud noises continued for the better part of five minutes until one two pillars were left and both competitors were almost out of breath. Again, the dark clouds above flashed, giving Omi and Envy a quick warning. Envy cringed, knowing that there were no pillars left to jump to, but eventually an idea crept into his head and an evil grin made its way onto his face. Within seconds, the lightning bolt came flying down at him. Envy quickly reached into his pocket and pulled out the small golden cricket statue and called out its name, "Lucky Cricket!" Just as Envy finished speaking, a humungous wave came up from the water and went right over Envy, blocking the lightning, and then reversed its direction and went back into the sea. "Ha! Whaddo ya say to that, baldy?" Envy called out.

"I saw karma is on my side." Omi whispered. Omi's final lightning bolt flew down from the sky just as these words were spoken. "Reversing Mirror!" Omi grabbed the magical mirror and held it directly over his head. The mirror absorbed the energy, causing the lass to give off a blinding glow. Omi then redirected the Mirror at Envy just before the energy was released and the lightning shot out of the mirror. Envy cursed under his breath as the bolt slammed into his body, knocking him off the pillar. "This isn't over, Baldy!" he shouted just before crashing into the water and disappearing into its depths.

SHORE

Clay and Saya watched the showdown from the shore. Kimiko was curled up on a rock not far away staring blankly down at the ground. Rai was sitting next to her, trying to cheer her up, get her to crack a smile at the least, but nothing seemed to be working. Kim just seemed empty after Envy stole her element. "Kimiko, I swear, we'll get it back. We'll find that Envy guy and we'll make him hand it over."

Kimiko just sighed and pretended to ignore him. Truthfully, his words were getting through to her and she wanted to believe that Rai was right. But something in the back of her head (more than likely common sense) kept telling her that they didn't even know how Envy took her element, much less if there was even a way to give it back.

It pained Clay and Saya to see their friends like this. Kimiko depressed to no end and Raimundo desperately trying to cheer her up. To think, while those two were being attacked, Clay and Saya were spending their time at a small, secluded beach that they'd stumbled across. They'd just spent the whole day lying on the sand next to each other, listening to the waves and the seagulls. At one point they both ended up falling asleep only to wake up in a rather awkward position. The day had been great for them, and they were sure that the others wouldn't rat them out for ditching them. But just as some dark clouds started to roll in, Kimiko and Raimundo appeared on the same beach, Kimiko having already lost her element to Envy.

"Maybe we should try to help out, Clay" Saya suggested.

"I don't think we'd be any help, Saya." Clay said. "It'd take a miracle to lift Kim's spirits this time. I've honestly never seen her this down before." Just as Clay finished speaking, the dark clouds in the sky began to vanish into nothing and the constant thundering began to die down. The next thing they knew, Dojo came flying overhead in his super sized form with Mimi, Rush, Elena, Julia, and Omi riding on his back. Omi was being cheered on by the others as if he'd just won a war single handed.

Dojo dove down to the ground after spotting the missing members of the group. After his passengers spotted them as well, Omi jumped off of Dojo's bake while he was still air born, landed clumsily on his feet, and ran over to Kimiko and Raimundo.

"What the hell's going on, guys?" Clay asked the others as Dojo landed and they jumped down from his back.

"Just sit back and watch." Elena said with a grin.

Omi slowed his pace down to a slow walk as he neared Kim and Rai, all the while grinning like a big hero. Rai looked when he noticed Omi walking their way, wanting to say now wasn't a good time, but Omi started before he could. "Kimiko, Raimundo, I have wonderful news!" he announced proudly.

"Not now, Omi." Rai groaned. "Kim's having a bit of a… what am I saying, it's a catastrophe." Ria got up and walked over to his pint sized friend, "I think she just wants to be alone right now."

"Really?" Omi asked with, to Rai's surprise, sarcasm. "Then I guess she won't be wanting this back any time soon." Omi reached into his sleeve and pulled out a small white orb that gave off a red glow and hovered an inch or two above his palm.

Kimiko's head snapped up after she noticed the glow from the orb and sensing that her stolen element was near. "Omi! How did you…"

"I forced Envy to bet it in a showdown and I won." Omi said proudly. "No thank yous are necessary, just take it back so that everything can go back to normal… seriously, take it. This thing energy is starting to make me light headed." Just to prove his statement, Omi grabbed his head with his free hand and started to sway slightly.

With no hesitation, Kimiko stood up and walked over to Omi and Raimundo. She took the glowing orb from Omi's hand, took a few seconds to take in the moment, and then pressed it against her chest where it slowly was absorbed into her body. Almost instantly, Kimiko went back to normal. The Japanese girl actually started to chuckle for seemingly no reason. She bent over and gave Omi a quick kiss on his forehead just to show the least of her gratitude. "Rai, don't say a word," she said before Rai could even open his mouth. "Keep quiet or you'll ruin it, if you catch my drift." Rai, knowing exactly what his girlfriend meant, didn't say a word.

"Ok, Kimiko's got her element back, we've got the Chimera's Breath and the Lucky Cricket, everything's as it should be." Dojo said. "Now can we please head home? I'm starting to think that I just have a regular cold instead of being allergic to the Chimera's Breath and I'd like to get back before night fall."

"I'm with the gecko." Rush, Mimi, Julia, and Elena all said simultaneously.

"**GECKO!?"

* * *

**(a/n) Gecko! I crack up every time someone calls Dojo that. I cna just imagine Dojo doing a geico comertial. anyway, onto more important matters. for those of you who got the wrong idea, Mimi is not part of that fifteen percent that she mentioned from her school. I only put that in there for a joke. also, if you havent figured it out yet, I do plan on having envy steal more of the dragon elements at one point or another. uh... thats all I can think of to say right now. later. 


	5. Chapter 5: The Quasar Cube

Chapter 5: The Quasar Cube

"Ok, boys. We have three movies to choose from." Rush announced while standing in front of the Temples big screen TV. One of the many things that Master Fung had done to the temple in the six months after Chase's defeat was add in a Rec. room. It had everything that Teenagers needed to have a good time. A pool table; air hockey; a big screen TV with a DVD player and satellite TV; a huge stereo with complete with surround sound; a small bar and a fridge filled to the brim with multiple soft drinks and ice cream; multiple recliners and couches; and a PS2 with games like Guitar Hero, Dance Dance Revolution, and the team hoped to soon add Rock Band to their collection. Best investment Master Fung ever made. However, all of this didn't come without a catch. No one was allowed to spend more than three hours in there a day. Rush continued on after making sure that he had Rai's Omi's and Clay's attention. "I can guarantee you that all three films are filled with ass kicking fights or scantily clad women or, dare I say it… explosions or some combination of all three. Your choices are, drum roll please… D.O.A. (Dead or Alive) the movie, Transformers the movie, or (I can't believe Master Fung actually let me bring this here) American Pie: the Naked Mile. So, what'll it be?"

"I'm pretty sure that Kim would kill me if I watched American Pie," Rai said, chuckling quietly, "So my votes for D.O.A."

"I'm in the same situation." Clay said. "But I'm a big fan of explosions. I vote for Transformers."

Omi merely shrugged. Having never heard of any of these movies, he didn't really care. "I vote D.O.A." he stated simply.

"Oh, you're all idiots." Rush said, annoyed.

"Face it dude, all three of us either have a girlfriend or, in Omi's case, aren't a pervert. So throw D.O.A. in there and don't even start complaining." Rai said.

Rush grumbled sarcastic remarks under his breath as he placed the DVD in the disc tray and closed it. just as Rush was sitting down in his favorite recliner, wouldn't you know it, Kimiko and the other female members of the team come walking in. "What's going on, guys?" Elena asked.

"Just watching a movie." Omi said.

"And you didn't invite us?" Kimiko demanded sarcastically, though trying to sound a little angry.

"I doubt you'd like it anyway." Rush said. "It's full of overly exaggerated fights, ninjas, and half naked women."

Immediately, Mimi and Elena rolled their eyes and walked over to the pool table. Kimiko and Saya stayed behind to interrogate their boyfriends, which they decided to do right after Rush said, "Half naked women." Julia, however, did something that no one in the room honestly expected. "Mind if I watch?"

Rai, Kim, Clay and Saya all turned to Julia and gawked at her. Omi and Rush were already to into the movie to even notice what she said as Mimi and Elena were with their game of pool. "Wait, you actually want to watch this movie?" Rai asked in his shock.

"What? Just because I'm a girl means I can't like action movies?" Julia asked, crossing her arms and giving her friends a questioning glare. "Kim was right. You and Clay really are thick headed." With that, Julia took as seat on the couch next to Raimundo, getting a bit closer to Rai than Kimiko wanted.

Kimiko and Saya shook out of their trances and walked away, going to join Mimi and Elena in their game of pool. "What was that all about?" Elena asked.

"It started with me and Kim annoying Clay and Rai." Saya giggled, "I fazed out a bit after that, and it ended with the guys to watch the movie."

Mimi's head snapped up when she heard about Julia and she remembered how Rush described it, _Full of overly exaggerated fights, ninjas, and half naked women._ That didn't sound like the kind of movie Julia would be into at all. The red head glanced over in the direction of the TV and noticed how close a certain Australian and a certain Brazilian were. Mimi shook her head and giggled. _Nice try, Julia, but you can't fool me. _She thought.

The next thing anyone knew the sound of a megaphone range through the room, causing Omi to jump in his seat, spilling popcorn everywhere and making Mimi miss her shot and hit the cue ball straight into a hole. Everyone turned to the door and shouted, "**WHAT?!"** when they spotted Dojo slithering into the room with a megaphone and the scroll of the Shen Gong Wu. "Stop whatever you're doing." Dojo ordered, "We've got a new Shen Gong Wu ripe for the picking." Everyone groaned and walked over to the pint sized dragon.

"What're we after this time?" Omi asked.

"Dojo opened up the scroll and laid it down on the floor for everyone to see. "It's called the Quasar Cube." Dojo said. "One of the most Dangerous Wu Dashi ever invented. When it's activated, it transports the user and anyone in the immediate area to any random point in time and space. And when I say any random point, I mean any random point. You could end up a million years into the future somewhere in the andromeda galaxy. It's only been used once and Dashi forbid the use of it again."

"Sounds cool." Elena said.

"Yeah," Rush said. "Mind if I give it a spin?"

"What part of **ANY RANDOM POINT IN TIME AND SPACE** do you not understand?" Dojo asked.

LOCATION UNKNOWN

"Sloth, Greed, Gluttony!"

Within seconds, the figures of Sloth, Greed, and Gluttony manifested in front of their master, Pride to receive their orders. "You called, Pride?" Sloth asked.

"Lust has given me the information that a new Shen Gong Wu has gone active, one the Xiaolin Monks can't afford to lose. You three are the only ones who haven't failed me. I suggest you keep up with your record."

"Understood." The three Sins said in unison before vanishing with the wind and leaving their master with his thoughts.

Pride sat quietly in his throne, thinking over how he thought this mission would end up. _If what the cloaked one told me is true, then those three will not disappoint me… at least, not entirely._

DENMARK

"Ah, Denmark. The land of ancient, oversized windmills." Rush announced as Dojo swooped over a grassy plain that was filled with windmills somewhere in Denmark.

"Does everything you say have to be sarcastic?" Elena complained.

"Yep."

Dojo landed somewhere in the tall grass and shrank down to his normal size after the gang jumped down from his back. "Ok, the Quasar Cube should be in one of these windmills." He said. "And if you find it, for the love of god, don't even drop it. It's that dangerous, no interesting details included, etcetera."

The gang split into five separate groups to search for the Quasar Cube. Unfortunately for four of the nine, after their little fiasco in Mexico, Dojo chose the teams. Omi and Clay left to the south, Raimundo and Saya took the east, Rush and Mimi headed west, Elena took Dojo to the northwest, and that left Kimiko and Julia to head northeast.

The sounds of grinding gears and wind filled the air as Raimundo and Saya searched through one of the old windmills. It was amazing what people actually kept in these things. Already they'd found everything from old, rotting hay to antique pocket watches. If they kept that kind of stuff in these things, then surly the Quasar Cube had to be in one of them. One out of a countless number.

"This is going to take forever!" Raimundo complained. "We'll never be able to find that thing before Jack or the Sins get here."

"Never say never." Saya said as she dug through an old trunk. For a while after that, the two were silent, wanting to find or not find the Quasar Cube and get out of there as fast as possible. However, the silence quickly began to annoy Saya and she just had to say something, though what she said she really wish she hadn't. "So Rai, What's really going on with you and Jewel? Kim really seems upset about you two hanging out so much." Saya cringed and mentally smacked herself after realizing what she'd said.

Rai groaned. "What is it with you guys? We're just old friends trying to catch up, nothing more!"

"It really doesn't seem that way." Saya insisted. "Ever since she came to the temple there's been some kind of connection between you two. Are you sure that nothing happened between you guys when you both lived in Brazil?"

Rai sighed and hung his head, glaring up at Saya. "Ok, look. Nothing romantic ever happened between us, not now, not back in Brazil, never. But something did happen in Brazil, something that Julia didn't want anyone to see. I've kept a secret of hers for years, never telling a soul, and I don't plan to until she says different. That's why we're so close, because she trusts me."

"A secret? That's it?" Saya asked, she was starting to get annoyed. "What…"

"Let's just say," Rai broke in, "That it would change the way you think of Jewel completely."

"That big, huh?"

Rai ignored her and started towards the door. "The Quasar Cube isn't here." He said. "Let's check another windmill." He opened the door and stepped outside with Saya following close behind. As far as Rai was concerned, this conversation had never happened. But Saya, she could get it out of her head. What secret could be big enough that Raimundo would risk his relationship with Kimiko?

ANOTHER WINDMILL

"Found it!"

"The Quasar Cube?"

"No, my grandmothers diamond earrings… of course it's the Quasar Cube!"

Kimiko stood in front of a dusty chest with an overjoyed grin on her face. She held in her hand a small diamond cube the emitted a golden glow in one hand. What luck she had to find that thing within an hour of searching was a complete mystery to her, but she didn't care. She'd found the Shen Gong Wu without any struggle what so ever which to anyone else would've said that something terrible was about to happen. But in Kim's case, joy was overshadowing common sense at the moment.

"Great!" Jewel said happily. "Now let's call the others and get out of here. Denmark's freakin' freezing!"

"It's fifty degrees f. outside." Kimiko said.

"Yeah, and I'm from one of the hottest countries on earth if you don't remember!" Jewel complained.

"Point taken. I'll call everyone's cell and we can get out of here."

Five minutes later, the team had reunited and they were preparing to head home. Everyone was ready to celebrate their easy victory right then and their. But, celebration could wait for later. After a quick trip home they could live it up all they wanted. Through the excitement, however, Julia couldn't help but notice that Saya seemed to have something on her mind. And judging by the fact that the blond occasionally glanced over at the Australian girl, Jewel guessed that it had something to do with her. _I'll ask her later._ Jewel mentally noted.

"Ok, everybody," Dojo announced, "hop…" Dojo stopped mid sentence when a loud growling sound started to go off. Everybody looked around to see if some animal was nearby, but they couldn't find anything. It didn't take long for them to realize that it was Dojo's stomach.

"Dojo! You can't be hungry." Omi complained. "You were stuffing your face with chocolate just before we left the temple today."

"I'm not hungry!" Dojo insisted. "Or at least I wasn't a minute ago. But suddenly I feel like I haven't eaten in days."

"Now that you mention it, I'm starting to get a bit hungry too." Elena said, rubbing her stomach.

"An unfortunate side effect of being in my presence."

Before anyone could figure out what was going on, three ominous figures appeared out of nothing among them. The first Clay, Saya, and Elena easily recognized as the Sin of Sloth, but the other two were completely new faces. One was a skinny teenager in fancy clothes and had a look of greed in his eye. The other was an obese man in a suit of body armor. "Give us the Quasar Cube immediately and we'll destroy only the bare minimum." The obese man stated.

"I suggest you listen to him." Sloth said. "Gluttony has been known to take out opponents in a style fitting of his title. And as for Greed… well," Sloth paused to chuckle quickly, "Greed should have no trouble with the likes of you."

Rai dashed in front of Kimiko who was clutching the Quasar Cube tightly. "Kim, don't let them get the Quasar Cube." Rai ordered. "Destroy it if you have to."

"Don't test my patients, children." Gluttony said. "I want to get this over with before my third lunch for the day. Now hand over the Quasar Cube or I'll take it from you!"

"The only one who's gunna have that cube it me!"

Out of nowhere, Jack Spicer and a swarm of his Jack-bots appeared hovering just above the nine monks and the three sins. Jack had a look in his eye that one didn't usually see in him. Jack meant business, and he wasn't going to screw around. And the fact that he was hearing a hood and held the Combo-Sickle at his side, giving him a grim reaper look, only made his seem more menacing. "Now put the Quasar Cube on the ground and back away slowly or I'll unleash an old friend of mine." Jack threatened as he reached into his back pocket and pulled a small golden statue of a sleeping boar.

Sloth looked up at the evil genius and smiled devilishly. "This boy is nothing but a nuisance. Greed, if you would be so charitable?"

"No way!" Greed snapped. "I came here for some real action!"

Sloth's smile only grew at Greed's response. "I should've known better." She said, shrugging. "I'll handle him myself." Sloth raised a hand into the air and called out her name. Up from the ground sprouted a squad of skeletal soldiers, equaling Jacks robots in numbers. "You may take care of his toys. I'll take that ingrate myself." With that, Sloth and her soldiers jumped into the air and started attacking Jack and his robots, quickly dragging them down to the ground.

Greed's fighting spirit was roused by the sight of Sloth and her minions battling Jack and his machines. Out of nowhere, her leapt into the air and dove straight at Raimundo, quickly engaging him in hand to hand combat. Omi, Mimi, and Rush, figuring that there's power in numbers, joined Rai in fighting Greed after a while. However, Greed's was an unbelievable talented fighter and soon began to get the better of all four.

Gluttony turned his sight to the remaining five monks. Clay, Saya, Elena, and Jewel all took a defensive position around Kimiko, knowing that if they lost her, they lost the Cube. Kimiko hated having to be guarded, feeling helpless and unable to fight all because she was the one holding the prize. _I should just melt this thing while I have the chance. _She thought.

"I warn you!" Gluttony called to them, "Few I have faced even before my time with the Sins have fought me and survived."

Clay was the first to make a move, rushing at the oversized man and trying to slam his fist into Gluttony's face. Gluttony was faster than he looked, easily dodging Clays attack and sending the Texan flying with a swift kick. Enraged by this, Saya came at him next, charging both of her fists with electricity, causing her eyes to glow as well, and unleashing a barrage of punches and kicks at him. Gluttony had a little trouble dodging her attacks and found it even harder to find an opening for an attack. But eventually the Sin latched onto the Dragon of Lightning's arm and tossed her away like a rag doll. Elena and Jewel remained stationary in front of Kimiko, thinking that Clay and Saya had made a mistake of rushing at him. Gluttony slowly made his way over to the three girls. Kimiko trembled as the Sin got closer, something about this man just made her want to scream in terror. She wasn't sure what it was, but he just horrified her.

"I see that you three are more worried about guarding the Shen Gong Wu than defeating me. You must be the wise ones of the group." Gluttony said nonchalantly. "I'll give you one last chance. Step aside and drop the Cube and I won't be forced to do away with you." The girls only glared at him, silently refusing his demands. "I see. You've made your choice… and it was the wrong…" Gluttony was cut off when Saya appeared from behind him and slammed the heel of her foot into the back of his head, causing him to stumble forward. Clay then made an equally sudden appearance from behind Kimiko, pushing his way past the three girls and punching Gluttony in the gut with the Fist of Tebigong. Gluttony stumbled back, out of breath and his armor dented, but amazingly still standing. "You…" he wheezed, "will pay for that."

Clay and Saya came in for another attack only to be tossed aside by the obese man once again. This time, however, Jewel reacted in her rage and leapt at him as well. Gluttony only laughed as he slapped her back in the opposite direction. It was the biggest mistake he'd made in his life.

Jewel went flying back, so fast that no one could keep their eye on her. Kimiko didn't even have time to jump out of the way before Julia crashed into her, sending them both onto the ground with Julia on top of Kimiko and causing Kimiko to toss the Quasar Cube in the air. Time seemed to slow down as the diamond cube ascended into the air and then began to drop back down. It landed hard right next to the two girl's heads, going off in a blinding flash on contact with the ground. When the flash faded, everything seemed the same, except that Kimiko and Julia had disappeared without a trace.

TIME AND LOCATION UNKNOWN

Kimiko groan from the throbbing of her head as she awoke, completely oblivious to where or when she was. She felt heat and wind beating against her, she felt warm sand underneath her back, and saw a bright yellow sky with orange clouds above her. _Some kind of dessert?_ Kim sat up slowly, not wanting to rush herself and go unconscious again. She eventually spotted Julia standing a ways off; looking out to what she supposed was more dessert. Julia turned around to find Kimiko staggering to her feet. "Oh good!" she said half heartedly, "You're awake."

"Jewel?" Kim questioned. "What happened?"

"I'm not sure, but I found two pieces of the Quasar Cube, so I guess you activated it when you dropped it."

"Pieces?"

Jewel dug into her pocket and pulled out two diamond shards, both in the perfect shape of a pyramid. "It must've shattered when it activated." She explained.

Kimiko nodded, slowly taking all of this in. if the Quasar Cube had activated, then they could be anywhere in space and time. It was a miracle that they landed somewhere where they could breath. Kim looked out in the direction the Jewel had been only minutes earlier. What she saw simply shocked her.

Buildings. Skyscrapers to be more specific. Towering man made structures half buried in the sand that surrounded them and seeming to be abandoned. These dotted the area around them, spread far enough apart that a few smaller buildings could easily be placed between them, completely covered by sand.

"J-Julia…" Kimiko stuttered. "Where are we?"

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(a/n) can you say "cliff hanger"? I can't tell you how long I've been itching to get to this chapter. I've had the idea for the Quasar Cube for some time now and I just hat to use it as a big part of the story. You guys can expect a lot of surprises and a big plot twist or two over the next few chapters, which will both chronicle Kim and Jewels adventures in where ever the hell they are and deal with how the others are taking their sudden disappearence. just you wait, you will not be disapointed. 


	6. Chapter 6: Throught Time and Space

(a/n) I know this chapter may seem a little rushed, but I have my reasons for doing so. first off, I had to finish this chapter tonigth (12/26/07) because I'm getting surgery on my wrist tomorrow and I wont be able to type for a while, or do much else for that matter (damn my being right handed). and another reason is that I've had this chapter planned out for a while anyway and I pretty much knew what was going to happen to begin with. still, even though I rushed it a bit, I still feel that this chapter wont disapoint you.

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Chapter 6: Through Space and Time

Some think that time travel is only science fiction; others think that it will be achieved one day but not until all on earth today are long gone. Some would give anything to pass through a rip in time and space and land even a day back or forward in time. But two souls trapped when and where they don't even know would give anything just to go back to their home. Kimiko Tohomiko and Julia Marsh had been thrown through time and space to god knows when or where, for all they know they could be on some post-apocalyptic planet millions of years away from their own time. One doesn't really know how precious home is until it's permanently out of reach.

Who knows how long it had been since Kim and Jewel had arrived in where ever they were. The two girls had remained in the same general area that they'd landed in, trying to think of a way back home to no avail. The only way they could think of was the Quasar Cube and, even if they had every piece out of god knows how many, they had no way of knowing when or where they'd land. It all seemed hopeless.

Finally, after what seemed like hours of silence, Kimiko forced herself to her feet and started walking. "Well this is getting us nowhere fast!" she pointed out. "So long as we're here we might as well check some of those buildings for food and water. There's bound to be at least some kind of animal we can cook."

Without so much as a single word, Julia got to her feet and obediently followed Kimiko into the sand covered city. They didn't have much luck at all. Their only hope of getting into any building was a window and most were boarded up or had too much stuff in the way. They occasionally did find an open window, but the rooms they lead into were about ready to collapse and they didn't want to risk it.

Later, Kim and Jewel returned to their original landing spot after finding that almost every building was ready to collapse or they just couldn't get in. "Great!" Kim complained. "We're gunna die here!"

"Don't talk like that!" Jewel snapped. "We'll find a way back home. I don't know how, but we will."

"How can you say that?" Kim snapped back. "We've got no food or water, the Quasar Cube has shattered, and the desert heat will get to us in a couple days anyway! You give me one reason of why I should even consider cheering up!"

No answer ever came. For at that very moment, both girls felt their arms being restrained and cold steel pressing lightly against their throats. A voice came from behind Kimiko, "Identify yourselves!" The voice sounded vaguely familiar, like a teenage boy of about fifteen, almost like Rai. But both girls could easily tell the difference between Rai's voice and this guy.

Kimiko answered without hesitation. "Kimiko Tohomiko and Julia Marsh." She said hastily. Kim glanced over to Julia, making sure not to turn her head in the process. From what she could tell, Jewel's captor was a girl about their age in a ninja suit, a lot like their Xiaolin Showdown armor. Kim could only guess that her captor was a male version of the other. _Just you wait._ She thought. _Once we get free you'll be sorry you ever met us._

Upon hearing Kimiko's words, she felt the grip on her arms ease and the blade come away from her throat. Kimiko broke free, took a few steps forward and sung around to get a good look at these people. Julia did the same. As Kim had guessed, her captor was just some teenager in a ninja get up. "Well, at least we've established that we're still on earth." She whispered.

"Did you say Tohomiko and Marsh?" the boy asked with an honestly confused look in his eyes.

"Yeah." Julia answered. "What of it?"

The boy turned to his female companion. "They have to be lying." He said. "Those two are way too young to be them. I say we cut their throats while we can."

"Oh, would you pull your head out of your ass, Riku? We've all heard the stories about when they were younger, they could have used one of the Shen Gong Wu things they're always talking about." The girl snapped. "Those two could very easily be younger versions of them."

"Do you even listen to yourself, Bonny?" Riku asked. "If those two are younger versions of them, then how could they be here now? How could **WE** be here now? Haven't you ever heard of the butterfly effect? They're obviously spies sent by one of the Sins."

"If the Seven Sins are your enemies, then we're on the same side." Jewel said.

Riku and Bonny turned to Kim and Jewel. Riku glared at them with a suspicious hatred while Bonny just eyes them with curiosity. Bonny reached up to her head and removed her mask to reveal a main of long, untamed, jet black hair. "If you really are who you say you are, then you should come with us." She said.

"Are you insane, Sis!?" Riku demanded.

"Hey, I think we can trust them, alright?" Bonny snapped. "But if you turn out to be right, then I'm all for killing them. Deal?"

"Deal." Riku reluctantly grumbled.

RIKU AND BONNY'S HOME

Riku and Bonny had lead Kim and Jewel to one of the many buildings in the area, a lot farther than Kim and Jewel had gone in their search. All four had remained silent for the whole trip with Kim and Jewel being on their guard the whole time and Riku being to stubborn to talk to his sister. "Well, here we are." Bonny said, finally breaking the silence. "Home sweat home."

"Yeah, if you can call this hell hole a home." Riku muttered darkly. By now he too had removed his mask. Riku had rather tan skin and shaggy dark brown hair.

"Quiet Riku!" Bonny snapped.

Riku took a few steps forward and tapped his knuckles on the window a few times. A voice came from inside, "C'mon in, kids." The window lifted itself up, just wide enough for the four teenagers to get through one by one. Bonny went through fist then motioned for the other two girls to follow. Kim and Jewel entered to find that, despite what they expected the room inside was in pretty good condition. It looked as it a small family had been living there for years with no problems at all. There was no sign of electricity at all. The room as illuminated by plain white candles all around the room and there were a few torches on the walls too. The walls and ceiling had been painted eggshell white while it had a hard wood floor. There was a book shelf on one side of the room simply filled with novels and scrolls and next to that was a couch. Across the room from the couch was a reclining chair and a door leading to another room. "Hi Mom, we're home!" Bonny called out.

"Did you two get everything we need from the oasis?" the same voice from before called from the other room.

"Yeah." Riku called back. "And you'll never believe what Bonny brought home."

"What is it this time?" A woman holding a wet dish appeared from the door way next to the recliner. She, like Bonny, had long, untamed, jet black hair. She wore what looked like a white kimono with a red flower pattern, no sleeves, and cut off half way down her thighs. "Bonny, if you've found another jackal puppy, I swear…" the woman cut off after catching sight of Kim and Jewel. "Oh my god." She whispered, dropping the dish she'd been holding and letting it shatter on the floor.

"I told you we should've killed them when we had the chance!" Riku snapped at his sister.

"Riku!" his mother snapped. "Shut your mouth right now!" from there. Riku, Bonny and their mother all fell into a heated argument that Kim and Jewel honestly couldn't begin to understand.

"Could some one please explain what's going on?" Jewel broke in. "I've been completely confused since the second we met you two!"

Riku, Bonny, and their mother fell silent. The woman sighed and started rubbing her temple. "Never thought this would happen." She muttered. "Could you tell me where you're from, exactly? And by where, I mean when too."

"We're from the Xaiolin Temple in China." Kim answered. "And last I checked it was 2007. Isn't that right, Jewel?" Julia nodded.

"I see…" the woman said softly. "Well, if that's the case then you two are about twenty-five years and half a world away from home.'

"Wait… you mean…" Kim started.

"That's right. Welcome to New York City, 2032. And for the record, you wouldn't happen to know who we are, would you?" the girls just shook their heads. "Well," she started to say, but her cheeks went red and she started stuttering before she could finish. Riku rolled his eyes and took over for his mother.

"Our last name is Pedrosa." Riku explained. "I'm Riku Pedrosa, my sister is Bonito, but everyone calls her Bonny, and Moms name is Kimiko." Before Riku could say another word, there was a thud on the ground and all eyes turned to the younger Kimiko, who had fainted from shock.

_(a/n) a quick word before we go on. I know it'll get confusing with two of the same person in the same storyline, so from now on 14yo Kimiko with just be called Kim while her 39yo self with be called Kimiko, or mom in the case of Riku and Bonny. And now that that's out of the way, back to the story._

A FEW HOURS LATER

"Kim? Kim are you ok?"

Kim groggily opened her eyes to find herself lying on a couch with Julia leaning over her face. "Ugh… I had the weirdest dream." Kim explained as she sat up. "You and I accidentally used the Quasar Cube to go twenty-five years into the future and we met my future self and my kids."

"Oh don't even pull the old dream bit! Do you know how old that is?"

Kim turned around to spot a shaggy haired boy sitting in a recliner flipping through a magazine (which looked like it was dated back to 2014). "I swear, anyone that didn't see that 'it was a dream' bit coming has to have a learning disability." Riku continued.

"Hate to break it to you, Kim, but Riku is right. We're really here." Jewel explained.

"… You've got to be kidding me." Kim said.

"I'm afraid not." Bonny said as she entered from the next room. "I have to admit, this is kind of cool though." She said as she sat on the arm of the couch. "I've always wanted to know what mom was like when she was my age."

"I'm begging you, don't call me mom." Kim said. "I'm still fourteen, if you haven't noticed."

Bonny giggled Kim as she got back to her feat. "You got it, mom." She giggled. "By the way, dinner's almost ready, so you three head into the kitchen and take a seat."

"I hope you two like lizard eggs." Riku said, "'cause that's about all we eat around here."

"That's my twin brother for ya." Bonny said, "Always complaining.

The following meal was a bit awkward, but surprisingly filled with conversation, most of which was just Kimiko telling her younger self and Julia how the everything was going to happen while they were there. According to the plan, Kim and Jewel were going to stay with them for the night, sleeping with Bonny in her room, and tomorrow they would gather he others and try to find a way home for them. Riku, Bonny, and Kimiko weren't the only ones there, Omi, Mimi, Julia and Elena's older selves all lived in the same building, only in different apartments.

"Wait a minute." Kim broke in. "What about Rush, Saya or Clay? And I haven't seen Rai yet either. What happened to them?"

Silence fell over the table. Riku got his usual angry look and stormed off to his room while this mother and sister just hung their heads in shame and tears started to run down their cheeks. "Well, we think Clay is still alive, but we have no idea where he is. He vanished about ten years ago when the Sins finally took the earth." Kimiko explained. And as far as Rai, Rush, and Saya go… well, it'll be easier just to show you. Follow me."

Kimiko and Bonny lead Kim and Jewel out of the apartment, up a few flights of stairs, and out onto the roof. There, casting long shadows in the twilight sun sat three stone tablets standing upright in the concrete of the roof. Three tomb stones for three fallen friends. Rush, 1992 – 2022. Saya Bailey, 1991 - 2022. Raimundo Pedrosa, 1992 – 2022. Kim and Jewel could believe what they were seeing. "How did this happen?" Kim asked.

"It was ten years ago, when the Sins finally took control." Kimiko explained. "Back when the kids were still just five years old. We managed to destroy Pride fifteen years earlier. But the other Sins, with the exception of Sloth, managed to get away and when into hiding for fifteen years. Then they resurface stronger than ever and made the temple their first target. We all fought to defend the temple, but we ended up losing the fight, and those three lost their lives in the process. We never found the bodies."

"I see." Kim and Jewel both said. Like the others, they were starting to cry. Neither of them ever thought they'd be looking at the graves of any of their friends for a long time, even longer than twenty-five years. "You said that you defeated Pride but the other Sins escaped except for Sloth." Jewel said, wanting to change the subject. "What happened to her?"

"Well," Kimiko said as a smile found its way onto her face. "Let's just say she turned over a new leaf and she's living with a friend of our now."

They all fell silent again as the graves in front of them came back into their minds. Bonny quickly suggested that they head back inside and get ready for bed, which everyone agreed to. They made their way back down stairs and back to the apartment. They could hear the faint sound of an acoustic guitar being play coming from Riku's room. Apparently Riku took his rage out through music instead of violence.

An hour later Kim, Jewel and Bonny were all in Bonny's room passing the time with conversation rather than sleeping. Bonny had so many questions about what their time was like and what everyone was like back then. Having only been five when Rai and the others died, she only had a vague memory of her father. She also had questions about the Shen Gong Wu, having never seen or used one herself. Every answer that Kim and Jewel gave her only raised more questions and then more after those were out of the way. "Bonny, could you give it a rest, please?" Kim finally snapped. "I know you're probably the only kid on the planet who has ever met a teenage version of their parent, but you should know some self control by now."

"OK! Sorry!" Bonny said. "I'm just curious is all."

"Yeah, well, curiosity killed the cat and all that." Jewel said sarcastically. "Now can we please get some sleep?"

"Fine, fine." Bonny said. "You'll probably need it anyway. After all, we're meeting up you're future self in the morning, Jewel. Riku and I call her Aunt Jewel, by the way."

Julia sighed and buried her face in her pillow as Bonny went around the room and blew out the candles. She couldn't get the thought of meeting her future self out of her head. She couldn't help but wonder if she'd ever told the others the secret she'd been holding for so long, the secret that Rai was the only other person that knew, the secret that ultimately made her different from the rest of the team. _I guess I'll find out tomorrow._ She thought as she drifted into slumber.

XIAOLIN TEMPLE, 2007

After the battle with Gluttony, Greed, and Sloth, Raimundo, Clay, Omi, Saya, Mimi, Elena, Rush and Dojo all returned to the Temple, battered and bruised and groaning in pain, but all hurting far worse over the loss of Kim and Jewel. They had no idea where they were or how they could find them or if they were even alive. Raimundo spoke to Master Fung as soon as Dojo landed, telling his sensei everything that had happened. And, for possibly the first time ever, Master Fung had no advice or reassuring words. He honestly had no idea what to do. That tore it. Rai fell into an enraged depression and stormed off, leaving the Temple grounds all together. No one tried to follow him, knowing that he would come back when he was ready, just as he always did. But Rai wasn't the only affected by their disappearance. Clay and Saya both felt that they could've done more to prevent it from happening. Elena felt ashamed that she just froze when Gluttony came at her while Julia attacked. Omi Rush and Mimi, while seeing no personal fault of their own in the situation, still felt somewhat guilty for unknown reasons. Ultimately, everyone was in mourning and it wasn't going to end any time soon.

Mimi was slouching over the kitchen thinking over her battle along side Rai, Rush and Omi against Greed. She couldn't get it out of her head that she should've done more… more something. She didn't know what, but something in the back of her mind just wouldn't leave her alone.

As Mimi explored the depths of her mind, she failed to notice Omi walk into the room and sit across the table from her. Omi grabbed an apple from the basket on the table and took a bit before saying, "You too, Mimi?"

Mimi looked up to find Omi sitting across from her, munching on his apple. She sat up and nodded at him, not knowing what else to say. "I should've done more to protect Kimiko!" She finally burst, no longer able to control her emotions. "You three could've handled Greed on your own. I should've jumped in front of Gluttony when he went after Kim and the others. I could've pre…"

"No, you couldn't have." Omi broke in. "If anything you would've been lost too. And you're wrong about Greed as well. Without you the rest of us probably would've sustained major injuries from him. You did what you felt was right at the moment. You couldn't have done anything more."

Omi's words didn't seem to be getting through to her. "I should've come here." She muttered. "I should've stayed in France where I belong. That's what everyone thinks about me, isn't it."

Omi slammed his fist on the table. "That's not true!" he snapped. "No one thinks that of you! You belong here just as much as anyone else." Omi paused briefly and locked eyes with Mimi. Amazingly, she seemed to be getting the message this time. "If it makes you feel any better, that's the exact opposite of what I think of you. I'm glad you came here."

Mimi looked down at her friend in complete shock. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Big headed, self centered Omi was actually trying to comfort her and cheer her up. "What did you say, Omi?"

Omi sighed; he just couldn't take it any more. One second he was just sitting there, the next he had reached across the table, grabbed Mimi by the front of her shirt, pulled her half way across the table and kissed her. Mimi was caught completely off guard and just let it happen. As quickly as it started, however, it was over. Mimi was sitting back at her end of the table, completely confuse and blushing like crazy and Omi was just trying to avoid eye contact with her. Mimi was surprised by herself, she was actually disappointed that it had ended so quickly. Of everyone here, Omi was the last person she expected to fall for (other than the other four girls of course). "Omi… why did you…"

"Like I said," Omi broke in, "I'm glad you came to the temple. You belong here just as much as any of the others. And… I… I think I…"

"Omi." Mimi said, cutting Omi off in mid sentence. Omi reluctantly looked back up to her still trying to avoid eye contact. Mimi just shook her head and continued. "Just shut up and kiss me again."

LOCATION UNKNOWN

Jack groaned in pain as he was tossed to the floor of the Sins conference room. He had his wrists tied behind his back and his ankles bound. The Seven Deadly Sins all sat around him, arguing over his fate. Greed, Wrath, and Lust were all for killing him while he was still weak. Pride, Sloth, Gluttony, and Envy, however, were more sensible than that. "We all know that he is one of them. If we kill him now another will simply rise to take his place." Gluttony argued.

"Yes, but that one will be an infant." Wrath spat. "We won't have to worry about it for years.

"Jack Spicer is an insect." Lust said. "The world would be better off without him."

"Silence!" Pride shouted. "I have the ultimately make the decisions around here. I will decide the fate of this wretch. And Gluttony is correct. We can not afford to kill him… at least not yet. We shall imprison him and keep him close for the time being, Sloth, since you are his captor you shall be responsible for him. You are to guard him at all times unless I say otherwise. Understood?"

"Yes, master." Sloth said as she walked over to Jack, grabbed him by the back of his jacket and vanished into the air.

Pride dismissed the rest of his minions so the he could be left alone with his thoughts. Many things were going through this leaders head at the moment. _Just as the hooded one told me, not a complete failure. At least they brought me one of them. But now I must test the loyalty of the others. Let's see exactly where Sloth's loyalty lies…_

_

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_

(a/n) ok, who honestly expected any of that to happen? a few things before I leave. first off, I want to know what you think Julia's secret is. I wont conferm or deny anything, but I'd still like to here what you think it is. next, due to my surgery I wont be able to type for a while so dont expect me to update for a while. I will get the next chapter up as soon as it doesnt cause me pain though, so late january at the latest. until next time, this is ojex hoping he survives to write another chapter. I'm over exageration of course but you get my point.


	7. Chapter 7: Shinobi

(a/n) well, it took me longer than I thought, but I finally got chapter 7 done despite my wrist (you have no idea how hard it is to type with one hand). anyway, probabl the only reason I got thsi chapter done is because my winter vacation ends today and I have to go back to school tomorrow, so consider yourself lucky. a few things before you read though. first off, Jewels future self will appear in this chapter and, as is the case with Kim, the future version will be called by her full name while the teenage one will use the nick name. (adult Julia, teenage Jewel). and second off I'm just going to get something out of the way rigth now. three characters (omi and Mimi's kids and Clay and Saya's child) do appear in this chapter however they have no lines and are not described at all. this is because they are extremely minor characters. so don;t ask, ok. and with that said, I leave you to read Chapter 7: Shinobi

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Chapter 7: Shinobi

Jewel, Riku, Bonny and Kim stood in the hallway just outside what Kimiko said was the apartment of Julia's older self. Kimiko had gone in ahead of the others to prepare Julia for everything that was about to happen, it's not everyday that someone meets their teenage self after all. Meanwhile, Kim, Jewel, Riku and Bonny waited outside for the "ok" to come inside. Kim and Bonny were just leaning against the wall opposite of the door, quietly chatting about whatever they could think of. Kim had to admit talking with some one she was eventually going to give birth to was awkward, but Bonny was so easy to talk to that Kim almost forgot that she was her future daughter. Riku was leaning against the wall next to the door, quietly though impatiently waiting for his mother to return. Julia was on the opposite side of the door. She was trying to make herself look calm, but a blind man could've seen how nervous she was. Her jaw was quivering, her pupils were dilated, and she had goose bumps running up both her arms. Kim couldn't help but feel sorry for her friend. Kim had met her future self out of the blue, Jewel knew what was coming and had no idea of what to expect. "You nervous, Jewel?" Kim asked, mentally kicking herself after realizing what she'd said.

"You have no idea." Jewel said with a false smile.

"You've got nothing to worry about." Bonny reassured. "You turn out better than most of us. And for the record, you raise Sarah to be a better person than me or Riku."

"Who's Sarah?" Jewel asked.

"Oh, I completely forgot. Sarah is Clay and Saya's daughter. After Saya died and Clay made the decision to leave us he left Sarah in your care, Jewel. He figured it was the right thing to do, since you don't have any kids of your own."

"Ok, I get that part." Kim said. "But why Jewel? Why not Mimi or Elena? They're not dead too, are they?"

For the first time that Bonny could remember, Riku actually beat her to the punch. "Please." Riku chuckled. "Mimi and Omi can barely handle the two boys they already have. Taking in Sarah would've killed them both a long time ago."

Kim and Jewel's eyes widened and their jaws dropped. "What?" Kim asked in complete astonishment. "Omi and Mimi… that's not possible! They hate each other!"

Riku just shook his head and chuckled more. "You two are defiantly from 2008." He said.

"Ok, we've established why I had to take in Clay's daughter instead of Mimi." Jewel said after recovering from shock. "But what about Elena?"

Again, Riku somehow managed to speed past his sister to the answer. "She…" he began. But before he could finish, Bonny rushed over to him and slammed her fish into his stomach, and boy did she pack a punch. Riku dropped to his knees and did everything in his power not to throw up. "What was that for?" he demanded.

Bonny glared at him and bent over. "You've always been the quiet one," she whispered into her twin brother's ear. "Why don't you keep to your record. And why do you think I didn't tell them in the first place?"

Riku growled at her and took a quick glance at Jewel. He nodded and pushed Bonny away. "I get it! Now get off!"

"Ahem…"

Bonny and Riku looked over to the door to find their mother standing there with her arms crossed giving them a stern glare. "You two know the rules. You want to fight, take it to the sand." She said sarcastically. The twins both grinned half heartedly and backed away from each other. After dealing with her children, Kimiko turned her attention to Jewel who was still shaking nervously behind her. "Jewel, why don't you go in first and get to know yourself." She chuckled.

"No, it's ok." Jewel said shakily. "We can all go in."

"Really? Are you sure there's not something you want to talk to yourself about." Kimiko asked, raising one eyebrow. Jewel got the message and nodded at her then made her way through the door."

"What was that all about?" Kim asked.

"You'll find out in about… twenty five years ago, give or take a month or two." Kimiko responded. Kim just looked at her older self in confusion and put the questions out of her mind, promising herself that she'd ask Jewel later.

LOCATION UNKNOWN, 2008

Pride sat silently in his thrown, waiting patiently for his appointment to arrive. Unknown to the other Sins, Pride had been meeting with a certain hooded man on occasions for information. Pride knew full well that these twenty first century knuckle heads had no sense of honor and couldn't be trusted. This hooded man had been giving him brief views of the future for some time and so far he had not let him down. He had predicted Wuyas acceptance of the Lust position, the failure of Wrath, Envy and Lust, and the capture of Jack Spiced as well. He hadn't been wrong yet.

A green flame burst from the floor in the Sins conference room and from that appeared the figure of a man in a hood and cloak. "You seek my advise yet again, I see." He asked calmly without so much as quivering in the presence of the leader of the Seven Deadly Sins. "What can I do for you, oh great Pride?"

"When last you were here, you predicted that capture of Jack Spicer." Pride explained. "And as you said, he is one of the seven we seek. The other Sins and I have split views on what to do with him…"

"And so, you ask me." The hooded man said. "True, Jack Spicer is one of them and you can not afford to kill him yet. However, Jack Spicer is an insect. You're only wasting your time keeping him held up in your prison. He has no courage, no wisdom, and very limited power. He has no reason to fight should things get rough."

"So, you suggest…"

"I foresee thirteen figures standing in a vast wasteland, six glowing gold, six glowing green, and one caught in the middle. I suggest this to you, release Jack immediately, and he will continue to be no more than an annoyance. However, should things continue as they are now, he will find something worth fighting for. And he will prove to be more deadly than even I can foresee."

2032

"What could possibly be taking them so long in there?" Riku demanded as his patience had finally run out.

"Riku," his mother snapped. "It's only been fifteen minutes."

A quarter of an hour had passed and still Jewel was talking to her future self alone for reasons only Kim was oblivious to. Kim really didn't care either, at least for the moment. Her only concern then was getting home and getting home as soon as possible. The question was how. Kim doubted that time travel had been achieved in only twenty five years; she hadn't seen a single Shen Gong Wu since they'd arrived, which ruled out the Sands of Time; and they only had two shards of the Quasar Cube which was a big gamble to begin with. So how the heck were they going to travel back twenty five years?

One moment, everything was peaceful and quiet, other than Riku arguing with his mom. The next, pieces of glass and walls were flying everywhere, the sounds of explosions were going off at the end of the hall way and fire and smoke was everywhere. The four in the hallway dove to the floor to protect themselves as debris and shards of glass fell over them.

"Where are they?" demanded a voice coming from the source of the explosion. "I know you have them here, Dragon of Fire!"

Kim lifted her head up and looked over her shoulder. At the end of the hall was a gaping hole in the wall and standing just in front of that hole was a man wearing black sweat pants, a thin layer of black and red armor from the waist up, and a black mask covering his entire head except for one eye. He had two katana swords strapped to his back and a few pouches strapped to his legs which Kim suspected to hold throwing stars and more explosives. _What's a ninja doing here? I thought we were in post apocalyptic New York. _Kim thought. "Kids, stay back!" Kimiko ordered. Bonny reluctantly but obediently backed away, but still readied herself to fight just in case. Kim and Riku however, being the stubborn and hot headed ones they were, refused to budge and inch until Bonny grabbed them by their shirts and dragged them back.

"Shinobi! What the hell are you doing here?" Kimiko demanded as she got back to her feet. "You've never left the oasis before!"

Shinobi reached over his shoulder and grabbed the handle of one of his katanas. "I've never had reason to come here before now." He breathed as he unsheathed the blade. "But now I see that the moment I've been waiting for all these years has finally arrived…" He pointed his sword at Kim. "And nothing is going to stop me from carrying out my mission."

"What are you talking about?" Kimiko demanded.

Shinobi glared at Kimiko with his one uncovered eye. "That girl… the younger version of you… she doesn't belong here. And I will see to it… that she doesn't remain her much longer."

Shinobi tossed a small marble from his free had and as soon as it hit the ground smoke went everywhere. _Why'd it have to be a ninja?_ Kim mentally groaned. The next thing she knew, she felt the point of a blade pressing lightly against her back and the cold steel of a blade against her throat. "Take me to Jewel and then come quietly and this wont get ugly." Shinobi whispered into her ear. "The last thing I want to do is hurt you."

"Then why the hell are trying to take me at the point of a sword?" Kim demanded. Not waiting for an answer, Kim knocked both of Shinobi's swords away with a swift kick then elbowed him in the face. She was pretty sure she'd broken his nose, so she took this opportunity to punch him in the stomach and then kick his legs out from underneath him. Shinobi proved to be to fast for her, for after being hit in the stomach he jumped over Kim's leg and then set off another smoke bomb. This gave Shinobi enough cover to pull out two throwing stars unnoticed, but also made him blind enough to miss Riku come flying at him, knock the throwing stars out of his hand and slam his foot into the back of his head.

"Big mistake, kid." Shinobi muttered as he grabbed his swords off the ground. The ninja rushed at the teenager and tried to hack his arm off, barely giving Riku enough time to slide out of the way. Before Riku could get in another attach though, Shinobi slammed his knuckles against his chest and sent him crashing into a wall.

"Touch my son one more time and I swear I'll incinerate you!" came Kimiko's voice through the smoke.

"You can't fool me, Dragon of Fire." Shinobi spat. "I know full well that you and the other dragons lost your elemental abilities to Envy a long time ago."

"Fine, but I'm still going to rip you in half!" Kimiko came flying through the smoke and Shinobi barely had time to dodge her oncoming punch. The ninja then grabbed her by the wrist, spun around and pinned her against the wall. "Ya know, you are way too beautiful to be living in a baron place like this." He said sarcastically.

"Save it!"

The next thing he knew, Shinobi was lying on the ground and Bonny was stepping on his chest and looking down at him with a death glare. "If you know what's good for you, you'll leave here and stay away from all of us, especially my mom, you got that?"

"I'd be right there with ya, Bonny," Riku called through the smoke, "But I can't exactly move my legs right now."

"HA! You think you're intimidating, don't you? Well, guess again!" with that, Shinobi pulled out another smoke bomb and crushed it in his hand, engulfing him and Bonny in the thick black fog. Before Bonny even knew it, the ninja had vanished from beneath her foot. "Now, I'm going to give you all one last chance. Give me the time travelers and I'll leave without any further conflict."

"You really don't know when to give up, do you Shinobi?"

A gust of wind blew through the hallway and the smoke was blown away revealing everything. Shinobi was standing at the end of the hall with his Katana's in hand, Kimiko, Riku, Bonny and Kim were scattered throughout the hall, all either injured or trying to catch their breath, and eight other figures had appeared, all glaring at Shinobi in disgust.

"Wow, that gust of wind was really convenient." said one of the newcomers, a short bald man with a dark goatee.

"Shut up, Omi." The redheaded woman next to him, obviously Mimi, said playfully. "You're killing the mood."

"Yes, dear."

One by one, Shinobi counted off everyone in his head. _Kimiko, Riku, Bonny, Kim, Omi, Mimi, Peter, Logan, Julia, Elena, Sarah and Jewel._ He cringed and curse under his breath. _I can't handle all twelve of them! Damn it! I'll have to try some other time. _"Well, it's been real fun, but I've got other things to do." Shinobi said sarcastically. "We'll have to do this again some time." With that, he set off another smoke bomb and had vanished again by the time it cleared.

A FEW HOURS LATER

"So, let me get this straight…" Omi said casually. He along with everyone else had gathered in the apartment that he, Mimi and their two sons, Peter and Logan lived in to discus what was going on. They were all gathered in the living room, which looked pretty much exactly the same as Kimiko's. The five adults of the group, excluding Kimiko and Julia, were all trying to take in Kim and Jewels story as much as they could while the five children just sat around being bored or sleeping. "You two accidentally used that Quasar Cube," Omi went on, "And by some amazing stroke of luck managed to stay on earth, just twenty five years into the future."

"That's pretty much it." Kim and Jewel answered.

"**WHAT KIND OF FOOL DO YOU TAKE ME FOR!?!?!?!**" Omi demanded, making it seem like his had inflated to ten times its normal size (which is really saying something). "The odds of even landing on this planet when using the Quasar Cube are astronomical! Not to mention I remember the day that the Quasar Cube activated! Master Fung didn't even let us go; he went to retrieve it personally. That's how dangerous it is."

"Well that's not what happened in our reality." Kim said.

Omi opened his mouth to argue, but before he could Mimi came up behind him and placed her hand on his shoulder. "Now honey," she said softly, "You of all people should know how the time stream works. You've used the Sands of Time more than any of us, after all."

"Ok… aside from the crazy bald one, I think we all understand." Elena said. "Now the question is, how do we get you home?"

"And more importantly, how do we do it without Shinobi finding out?" Julia added.

"Well…" Jewel said nervously. "I don't know if it'll help at all. But we do have these" Jewel reached into her pocket and pulled out the two shards of the Quasar Cube that she'd found when they'd first landed.

"That's it!" Omi said, from the sound of his voice and the look on his face, he was overjoyed to see the two fragments. "That's how you're going to get home!"

"Care to fill us in?" Kimiko asked.

"It's quite simple. When the Quasar Cube is used, it splits into six separate shards and then scatters over a certain area. If you two care gather the other four shards and put them back together then the Quasar Cube will take you back the exact same amount of time that you went forward!"

"You're a genius, Omi!" Kimiko said excitedly.

"Wait, when you say the exact same amount of time, does that mean we'll go back to the exact point that we left from or does it mean that two days will still have passed in our time?" Kim questioned.

"Unfortunately, yes. Because you've been here for two days, you will still have been gone for two days in your time." Omi explained.

"Who cares? At least we're going home!" Jewel said. "Now, how do we find the other Shards? Is Dojo still around?"

Everything went silent (other than the snoring coming from Peter and Logan). Remorseful looks came over everyone's faces. "No." Mimi said. "Dojo… we don't know what happened to him or Master Fung. After Rai and the others died, Dojo flew the rest of us here, to New York, where he thought we'd be safe. Afterwards, he flew back to the Temple to get Master Fung… he never came back."

"Then you'll just have to search for the damn shards the old fashion way! I'm tired of listening to this crap." Riku snapped. Everyone looked at him in complete shock as he got up from his seat on the floor and walked over to the open door, slamming it behind him as he left.

"Why does he get so pissed off whenever we talk about the past?" Bonny asked no one in particular. "I'm going to talk with him."

"No, Bonny!" Kimiko ordered. "He'll calm down on his own. Just let him be."

"He is right, though." Kimiko said, "We're going to have to do this the old fashion way."

And so, that was that. Over the remaining hours of the day the eleven of them (Riku was still nowhere to be found) searched as much as they could of the desert and amazingly found three of the remaining four shards. Everyone had gotten so excited after finding these three that most of them got overconfident in finding the last one and it still remained at large.

"Well, I think we can safely establish that the last shard is nowhere in the 'desert' of Manhattan." Julia said after everyone had returned to Omi and Mimi's apartment.

"So why don't we just leave?" Kim suggested. "It wouldn't take us that long to leave the desert. It wouldn't take us longer than a few hours.

"What? No! Are you crazy?" Mimi demanded. "We can't leave the desert! This is the only place where the Sins can't find us. We can't just leave our only safe haven, not to mention our home!"

"Why not?" Jewel demanded. "What happened to the brave Xiaolin warriors that you all used to be, and that me and Kim here still are?" before she could continue, Jewel felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned around to find Elena looking down at her with a gloomy smile. "We grew up." She said.

And that was that. Everyone there that was native to that time refused to leave their desert for one reason or another. The only one who didn't argue was Riku, and he wasn't even there. That night Kim and Jewel decided to leave to find the last shard, telling only Bonny that they were leaving. They trudged through the sand, heading west for hours until they found their first signs of plant life. From the looks of it, the entire east coast had turned into something resembling Texas or New Mexico. "Well, at least we'll have food." Jewel said. "… You can eat cactus, right?"

"Yeah, but it tastes like crap."

The girls whirled around expecting to find Shinobi again. But the person that was there they honestly didn't expect at all. He stood there in his ninja garbs with his mask removed, arms crossed and his dagger lying at his feet. Despite all of this, they didn't even realize who he was until they saw his shaggy hair blowing the breeze of the desert night. "Riku? What're you doing here?" Kim asked.

"What does it look like?" Riku asked. "I'm going with you."

"Are you crazy? You can't leave here!" Kim snapped. "Your friends and family are back there! They'll all be worried sick, particularly me! Besides, the others said that the Sins would be able to find you if you left your home.

"**THAT'S A LIE!**" Kim and Jewel gawked at Riku in shock after his outburst. Riku took advantage of their silence to explain himself. "Everything they told you back there: Dojo taking us here after they lost at the Temple, the Sins not being able to find us there, calling that place home; it was all false. The only real truth they told you was that Dad, Saya and Rush died at the temple. Those buildings in that desert back there, that's not our home, it's our prison!"

SOMEWHERE IN NORTH AMERICA, 2032

"Lord Gluttony!"

The Sin of Gluttony looked up from his meal to find one of his many robotic minions walking over to him with a paper in hand. "What is it?" Gluttony demanded before taking another bit of his steak.

The robot stopped next to the man at the table and bowed. "Pardon my interrupting second dinner, sire, but I have some most interesting news." the robot announced. "Sensors have located an object on the eastern coast of the former United States of America. It is thought to be one of the 'Shen Gong Wu' that you and the other lords of the world hold in your vaults."

"Shen Gong Wu, you say?" Gluttony asked before taking a sip of wine (straight from the bottle). "Find it and bring it to me. And just for safe measure, place guards around the Desert of Manhattan. We wouldn't want our favorite prisoners to get in the way like last time, now would we?" Gluttony looked over to the window as he reminisced to the day so many years ago when he battled a Texan man for what everyone thought to be the last of the Shen Gong Wu. _I still have his stuffed head hanging over my fireplace, don't I? _He laughed darkly as he got up from the table and walked over to the doors which lead to his parlor. "For the record, which one is it?"

"The Quasar Cube, sire."


	8. Chapter 8: Truth

Chapter 8: Truth

"They weren't lying to you. They don't even realize how wrong they are." Riku explained. He Kim and Jewel had stopped where they were and started a fire for the night. The three sat around the fire, Kim and Jewel focused on Riku as he told the real story of how he and they others came to live in the post apocalyptic New York City. "After the battle at the Temple where Dad and the others died we were all captured and taken to… I don't know where exactly. It was some kind of underground lab. It was there that they gave us a drug. Some kind of hallucinogen that permanently alters your memories. One by one I say Mom and the others lose their memories and have them replaced by complete trash."

"Hold on, if that's true then how can you remember all of this?" Kim asked. "Wouldn't you think that your memories would've been warped as well?"

"You would think that." Riku agreed. "But as it turns out Clay and I were immune to the drug. We remembered everything just as it had happened."

"So, that's why you got so mad when the others talked about the past." Jewel said. "It was because you could remember what actually happened and everyone else was telling a lie."

Riku nodded in agreement then went on with his story. "After the drugs were injected, they dropped us off in the ruins of what used to be New York City where they could monitor us constantly. They expected us all to die within a week, but we've managed for ten years. I'm pretty sure that they even sent people here to kill us on occasions, but something got in the way before they could reach us. I remember one day, when it was Clays turn to head for the Oasis for supplies, he told me that we would all be free of this curse soon. He said that I was to guard the others until he got back and then he left. We never saw him again and that was over nine years ago. I remember Sarah was bawling for days after he left." Riku glanced over to Jewel quickly who gave him a subtle glare. Riku nodded to signal that he understood. "None of us could bear to see her cry, so Julia took her in, having no kids of her own."

"At least that part was true." Kim said. "But I still don't think you're telling us the whole story. There's something else, isn't there?"

Riku subtly grinned. "You always could see right through me. There is one last part. It happened a few years ago. Bonny was sick so I had to go to the Oasis alone. That was the first time I met Shinobi. Believe it or not, he's not that bad of a guy. I didn't know what to think of him at first so I just froze upon seeing him. He told me I was to look out for my mother and sister, that I was supposed to keep them safe at all costs. After that, every time we met was to fight. But I've kept my promise to him so far, and I intend to continue."

"So that's why you want to come with us!" Kim said. "You want to protect me, the girl who is eventually going to grow up and become your mother."

"I figured that Shinobi's message had more meaning than just the two back there. And I understood completely the second I figured out who you two were."

All three fell silent. All three of them had the same question on their mind: who exactly was this Shinobi character? He seemed like a complete ass earlier, but from Riku's story he could almost be labeled a guardian. "I'm not going to rest until you two are back in your own time period, safe and sound." Riku said, breaking the silence. "You two have to do something for me in return though."

"And what would that be?" Jewel asked.

"I want you two to change the time line. Make it so that all of this never happens." Riku paused and reached down to get a hand full of sand. "Make this," he held out his the sand in his hand to the two girls in front of him, "Into a future worth living in."

Kim and Jewel smiled at Riku and agreed. From there they went to sleep for the night, completely unaware that not far away, under the cover of a certain shroud stood a man listening to their entire conversation. "Nice work, Riku." Shinobi said softly, "You figured it out after all." The ninja then reached into his pocket and pulled out what looked like a small skull make of rubies. He muttered the words, "Skulls of Mento." And then held the skull up to his mouth. "Hey, it's me." He said. "And I've finally got good news. It's time."

"Ugh, FINALLY!" a voice coming from the skull said. "It's been, what, ten years and nothing happened. I thought you were dead or something, man."

"Just get your ass over to Gluttony's place and wait. I'll meet you there. Over and out."

NEW YORK CITY

"**ARE YOU CRAZY?**" Julia demanded. "You're going after them?"

"You just don't get it, Julia." Kimiko said casually. "My son is out there risking his neck to protect our past selves, but I'm not about to let him sacrifice himself to save me. I'm going to find Riku, bring him home, and everything will go back to normal." Kimiko paused to look over to an old family photo on the book shelf. It showed her and Raimundo standing side by side, grinning happily, holding Riku and Bonny who were both still infants at the time. She couldn't help but start to cry a little every time she looked at that photo. Seeing how happy they were back then just made all those memories flood back to her, made her remember why they'd fought instead of hid in the first place. She couldn't help but smile at the goofy grin on Rai's face as he held little Riku in his arms. "I already lost my husband, Julia, and I'm not about to lose the closest thing I have left to him. You just wouldn't understand. You haven't lost the person you love most." With that, Kimiko pulled her ninja mask over her head and jumped out the window to search for her son.

Julia just stood there for a moment, thinking over what Kimiko had just said. "She's right." She muttered. "I can't imagine what it would be like to lose my love." She just sighed after that and walked out the door, heading back to her apartment.

As Julia left, Bonny came out of her room fully clad in her ninja outfit with an intent look on her face. "Sorry mom, but I'm not about to stay behind while you and Riku get out of this hell hole." Julia then followed her mother out the window, completely unaware of what was in store for her and her family.

SOMEWHERE NEAR NYC

Riku groggily opened his eyes and yawned as he awoke that morning. He expected to find himself leaning against a rock, watching over Kim and Jewel as they slept on the other side of the fire. But instead he found himself in a room with white walls, ceiling and floor filled to the brim with robotic soldiers aiming guns at them. He snapped to attention immediately wanting to fight back only to realize that he was chained to a wall. He looked around to find the others. Kim was chained up next to him with Jewel on the other side of her. "What the hell's going on here?" Riku demanded.

"Speak out of turn again and I'll have my minions shoot the girls, which will in turn erase you from history."

Riku glanced passed the guards to find an obese, shaggy haired man in a suit of body armor standing in the door way. "You are Riku Pedrosa." He said as he began to walk forward. "Age fifteen, child of Raimundo Pedrosa, deceased, and Kimiko Pedrosa. The girls next to you are past versions of Kimiko Tohomiko, age fourteen, and Julia Marsh, age fifteen. You may ask one question."

"Ok, why do you have us chained to a wall?"

"You, young man, have violated your imprisonment. For that, your punishment will be upgraded to the death penalty. The three of you will be executed within the next twenty four hours. And by the by, your family and friends will suffer the punishment as well. I hope you enjoyed murdering your entire family. One more question before I leave."

"Who are you?"

The man looked at Riku with a puzzling curiosity. He grinned devilishly before answering. "I am one of the last five of the Seven Deadly Sins: the Sin of Gluttony." Gluttony explained. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a meal to attend."

Gluttony left, ordering his guards to shoot if Riku so much as spoke. Riku just sat there pinned against the wall, trying to think of a way to get out of this. But there didn't seem to be a way out of it. If he freed himself, he'd risk leaving Kim and Jewel behind to be killed. But if he tried to take them with him, then he'd be killed before he could reach them. And besides, there was no way of getting out of those chains in the first place. _What am I gunna do?_

Before the answer could come to him, the door Gluttony had left through only moments before suddenly went up in flames and smoke. All the guards swung around to see what was going on only to be shot down by a machine gun in the hands of whoever had just blown up the door. "WOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! I haven't had this much fun in years!"

By this point both Kim and Jewel had woken up and were confused to no end. "Riku, what's going on?" Jewel demanded.

"You know about as much as I do." Riku answered. "Let's just hope whoever-this-is is on our side."

"That I am, little man!" The man stepped out of the smoke and fire to reveal himself. He was a tall, pale skinned man with tall crimson red hair wearing a black trench coat, what was most likely black body armor underneath that, and a pair of black sun glassed over his eyes. Riku just looked at this guy in confusion while Kim and Jewel gawked in complete shock. "Now hold still while I cut these shackles." He continued.

"Jack Spicer?" Kim asked, still shocked. "What're you doing here, and why are you helping us?"

Jack just laughed as he took a small laser from his pocket and started cutting the iron from Jewels wrists. "The Jack Spicer you guys knew is long gone." He chuckled. "I'm his trigger happy replacement, Jack Spicer 2.0: inventor extraordinaire and Cyborg after the loss of two limbs. And as for why I'm helping you…" he stopped briefly to move over to Kim after freeing Jewel, "…well, let's just say that a lot can change over time. Now less talking and more escaping, my wife is waiting on the roof to fly us out of here and to the last piece of the Quasar Cube."

"Wife?" Jewel asked.

"You don't know her." Jack stated simply as he cut the last of Riku's shackles. "Now let's go!"

Riku, Kim and Jewel followed Jack out of their prison and through the hallways. Red lights and alarms were going off and robotic guards were going everywhere searching for them. Every now and then some of the guards out catch up with them but Jack managed to shoot them down before anything happened. Everything seemed to be going their way… until the rounded one random corner and everything changed.

There stood Gluttony, arms crossed and with an army of robotic guards at his disposal. The obese man glared them down, causing the three escapees and their escort to take a few steps back. "I expected something like this would happen." Gluttony said. "Though I never suspected this cyborg to be involved in your escape. I expected one or all of the other infidels in NYC to come and get you out of desperation." Gluttony just shrugged and continued. "All well… kill them!"

Before a single shot could be fired, two strange blurs came shooting out of nowhere and plowed through the crowd of robots, taking out half of them in no time at all. "You touch one hair on my son's head and you'll pay with your life." Kimiko said hatefully as she turned around and glared at Gluttony with intense rage. "And Bonny, remind me to ground you when we get home." She said to the girl standing next to her.

"Well, well, well…" Gluttony said as he slowly surveyed his surroundings trying to find a quick escape. "Isn't this precious? The entire family is back together to spend their final breaths. Oh! My mistake. One was unable to make the party due to a ten year dirt nap. Oh well, I'm sure that dear Raimundo will be glad to see you all… **IN HELL!**"

Without warning, what remained of Gluttony's robots drew blades from their arms and started attacking. Jack quickly found himself swamped with robots and started shooting them down one by one. Kim, Jewel, Kimiko and Bonny soon found themselves in the same situation. But through all the chaos and mayhem, Riku found himself being left alone, staring down with Gluttony as if they were in an old western movie. Gluttony just grinned devilishly before he spoke. 'You know, I was just going to kill the girl then watch you three vanish from existence. But now, I'm leaning more towards killing you all one by one… starting with you!" As quick as a flash, Gluttony reached to his side and pulled out a hand gun, pulling the trigger before Riku could even register what was going on.

All went silent at the sound of gun fire. Eyes went wide, emotions began to build, lead had hit flesh and a body had hit the floor. He lay there almost completely still, gasping for breath as blood poured out of the bullet wound over his heart. No body had expected it, no one could've done anything to prevent it, no one had seen it coming.

Shinobi had appeared out of no where at the last second and jumped in the way.

"Is that…" Kimiko began, but she was unable to finish her sentence.

Riku knelt down next to Shinobi and just stared at him. Riku hadn't cried once since he was a baby, but for some reason he couldn't stop the tears from coming or his jaw from quivering. "Why…" he muttered. "Why did you save me?"

Shinobi chuckled weakly at Riku's question. "You mean you haven't figured it out yet?" he coughed. "Who would've guessed that you'd be such a dim wit? Now ask yourself… what kind of father would I be if I didn't sacrifice myself to save my own son?"

Riku couldn't believe his ears. "Dad?" he reached over to Shinobi's forehead and grabbed onto his mask to remove it. He couldn't believe what he saw: tan skin; dark brown hair; that humorous look in his eye; Riku and Shinobi… no, Riku and his dad looked almost exactly alike. "Dad! It's really you!"

"Raimundo!?" Kimiko asked in shock.

"Daddy!?" Bonny stammered.

Raimundo either ignored or didn't hear his wife and daughter. He was dying and right now the only thing on his mind was the person right in front of him: his son. "Sorry I wasn't…" he cringed as the pain got worse, "… around to see you guys grow up, Riku. Tell Bonny I … said that. And tell your mom that I… I'm sorry for everything I put her through… what with faking my own death."

"Don't talk like that!" Riku pleaded. "We'll find you help, you're going to be ok!"

Again, Raimundo couldn't help but laugh despite his pain. "Don't kid yourself, Riku… I'm dying quick. I'm not gunna be around much longer. Now here…" Raimundo slowly reached for one of his katana's and pulled it out. But instead of a regular sword, he'd replaced it with another made entirely of black iron with crevices in the blade that glowed neon green. "Take this and kick some ass. I'm counting… on ya, son." Rai laughed one last time before his consciousness faded and his body went limp. Not many know what it's like to have someone die in their arms, let alone having that person be a family member. Now Riku knew what it felt like, and he never wanted to feel it again.

Riku took the black sword from his father's body and slowly stood up. He didn't make a sound and his face was mostly hidden by shadow. But even a blind man could've seen the tears streaming down his cheeks. "You…" he turned his head towards Gluttony to reveal a new level of anger had evolved within him. "… SON OF A…" he raised the black sword towards the obese man. Gluttony suddenly felt an ominous chill in the air. "**BITCH!!!**" an eruption of energy suddenly surged from Riku's body as a golden aura appeared around him.

What could be seen of Gluttony's face under his hair suddenly went white. "No…" he muttered. "He can't be one of them… it can't end like this."

Riku charged at the Sin of Gluttony with amazing speed and slashed with the black sword. Gluttony barely had time to turn so that his arm could take the hit. The blade had cut clean through his thick iron armor and left a bloody gash on his shoulder. Gluttony cries out in pain, but not from the physical pain. That sword had damaged the spirit of the Sin within him. Riku made another attack while Gluttony was suffering. He jumped into the air and slammed his foot into the Sin's face, sending him toppling over and crashing to the floor. As Gluttony fell over, a small silvery white object fell from his armor and landed beside him. Riku kicked the object into the air, caught it with his free hand and then threw it to Jewel who caught it easily.

"What's this?" Jewel asked.

"It's the last piece of the Quasar Cube!" Jack called out. "Put the pieces back together, quick! They'll take you back to your own time!"

Kim fished the other five pieces from her pocket after realizing that Jack was right and told Jewel to hand over the other shard. "Wait, before you go…" Kim looked up to find her older self was the one speaking. "I just want to say, thanks, Kim and Jewel. I'd forgotten who I was until you two showed up."

"No problem." Kim said with a fake smile. "But just remember, I'm going to be you one day."

Kimiko smiled back and nodded.

"One last thing." This time, it was Riku who had spoken. His golden aura had yet to die down and he was still clenching to the black sword incase Gluttony got back to his feet, but his rage had vanished for the time being at least. "I want you tell something to Dad when you get back. I know he won't know who I am or anything, but I still want him to know that… just tell him I miss him, ok?"

Kim and Jewel smiled at him and both agreed to his request. And so, Jewel placed her hand on Kim's shoulder and Kim placed each of the six shards back into place with each other. There was a sudden flash of blinding white light and when it was gone so where they, safely back in their own time.

JUST OUTSIDE THE XIAOLIN TEMPLE, 2008

Rai sighed heavily as he looked on to the Temple from outside of its walls. Kim and Jewel had been gone for three days now and with them, especially Kim, the Temple just didn't seem like home anymore. He hadn't set foot in the temple grounds since they'd vanished, he just needed some space to collect himself, same way Clay did after Saya disappeared six months ago. But something didn't still didn't feel right. Something told him that whether he wanted to be there or not, he belonged in the Temple. Something told him that if he returned, maybe something good would happen. Rai simply shrugged and starting walking towards his home. "What've I got to lose?" he muttered bitterly.

Strange how those feelings always seem to be right, isn't it?

Rai hadn't taken one step within the Temple walls when a blinding white flash went off behind him. He spun around to find two faces that he couldn't believe had just appeared there. There stood Kim and Jewel, Kim holding the Quasar Cube in her hands, looking around wildly as if to make sure they were in the right place or something. "Kim!" Rai shouted.

Kim turned her head towards the voice to find Rai standing in the Temples entrance waving at her and Jewel and smiling joyfully. "We're home!" she shouted. After her cheerful outburst, her legs took over and she started running straight for Rai. Rai stood his ground and managed to catch Kim in his arms without falling over, and man was he happy to just hold her in his arms again.

"Where have you been all this time, girl?" Rai asked.

"Long story," Kim answered, "With some interesting characters and unexpected plot twists. But before I even begin, I've got a few messages to deliver, both of which are for you."

"I'll just go tell the others we're back while you two have your moment." Jewel said sarcastically as she made her way past them and then ran off to the Temple.

Rai and Kim waited until Jewel was safely out of sight before they went back to themselves. "So, what were you going to tell me?"

"Well, first off…" without another word Kim did something she'd been itching to do for the past three days: she kissed him for the first time in what seemed like ages. It didn't last long, it was just long and loving enough to make her forget almost everything that she'd been through recently.

"Wow, if that just the first message then I can't wait for the second." Rai said sarcastically.

"Keep your pants on, Ria." Kim chuckled. "That's not what I was going to tell you. What I wanted to tell you was… well… Riku says he misses you."

"Who's Riku?"

Kim couldn't help but giggle again. "You'll meet him some day." She said.

* * *

(a/n) so, who acutally expected Shinobi to be Rai? anybody? no? ok. let me tell you, I am extremely proud of these last three chapters and Im glad to finally see and ending to the 3 parter. however, these 3 chapters have exhausted me and I just need a little break after all this. dont worry though, I'll try to have chapter 9 up be february first. I'm sure your all wondering what could possibly top this last chapter. well, trust me, I have plans that;ll blow these last three chapters out of the water. I can tell you right now that I will be revealing Jewels secret eventually (I have dropped hints as to what it is already and plan to give more) and somebody, not saying who, is going to die. see if you can pull that name out of your hat (bad joke). anyways, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Ill be leaving now to sleep on what Im going to do in the next chapter and Ill return soon enough. see ya later. 


	9. Chapter 9: Confusion

Chapter 9: Confusion

How long had it been since he'd been thrown in that prison? Six… seven days? He wasn't quite sure, but to him it felt like forever. He'd sat in silence for his entire imprisonment, eating the bread and water they gave him once a day and thinking over everything he'd done in his life. But still, questions haunted his thoughts. Why had the Sins imprisoned him? Why hadn't they simply done away with him instead? What were they going to do to him later?

Jack looked up from the floor as he heard that sound of bread hitting the floor. He found the small load sitting at his feet and the Sin of Sloth standing on the other side of the bars with a mug of water in her hand. She had the same emotionless look as always… but something seemed different about her this time. It almost looked as if she had a look of regret in her eyes. "You gunna eat today or what?" she asked.

"Piss off." Jack spat.

"Hey," Sloth snapped, "I'd show me some respect if I were you. I'm one of the few of us that isn't set on killing you. You should be grateful that I'm even giving you what little food Pride is allowing you."

Jack just glared at her for a bit before grabbing the bread from the ground and ripping a piece off in his teeth. "Thanks." He mumbled in between bits. Sloth gave him a half smile and set the water down inside of the cell before heading back to her post as guard. "So why do they call YOU Sloth?"

Sloth stopped in her tracks and looked back at him. "I'm not sure I understand." She said.

"I've fought you twice now, and both times you've shown amazing strength and stamina. Both of which someone calling themselves 'Sloth' wouldn't possess. So why did you agree to become the Sin of Sloth?"

Sloth was utterly stunned by Jacks question. Why would he, her prisoner, want to know anything about her? It just didn't make sense. And such a personal question too… what was he up to? Sloth had every intent to just ignore him and walk away, but for some reason she was drawn back to the cell and sat down next to the bars. "Why do you want to know?" she asked curiously.

Jack simply shrugged. "Human curiosity." He explained. "People are naturally curious about things that don't make sense to them."

Sloth half smiled at him again in her amusement. "Well, first off, stop calling me that. I honestly can't stand being called Sloth all the time. It just sounds demeaning."

"Then what should I call you?"

"Nina… my real name."

"Well then, 'Nina', fire away. I'm not going anywhere any time soon so I've plenty of time to listen." Jack chuckled.

Nina laughed along with him for a few seconds before beginning her story. She paused to think it over before she began, however. The events in her life that led her to become Sloth weren't happy memories for her and the last thing she wanted to do was relive them. Still, she couldn't shake the feeling that maybe if someone other than Pride knew something might change for the better. Finally agreeing with herself to tell the story to Jack, Nina took a deep breath and started reminiscing. "I was born in an orphanage in California." She started. "At age five I was adopted by a couple that couldn't have any children of their own. I thought then that I was going to have a good life for once, but I was dead wrong. The couple that adopted me lived on a small farm in northern California, but they did grow corn or wheat or anything… it was marijuana. Those two were so high everyday that they made me do everything and if I refused they would beat me, so I did what they said and worked on that damn drug farm. Eventually though, when I was fifteen, they were busted and I was sent to a boarding school. I thought my luck had finally changed, and you know what… it did… for the worst. It was there that I met Pride. He knew everything about me, how I have slaved for years just so I could live and offered me a deal. He said that if I came with him I'd never have to work another day of my life, he said I'd have minions to do everything for me; hence the skeletal soldiers from a week ago. I agreed and became the Sin of Sloth. But for some reason, I still have the urge to do things myself, you know."

"I see." Jack said. "So… if you had a choice..."

"I'd leave the Sins as soon as possible." Nina muttered, tears were starting to stream down her cheeks.

Jack got up from his seat and walked over to the bars, wrapping each hand around two of the bars. "You really don't want to be here, do you?" he asked.

"You have no idea."

LOCATION UNKNOWN

Two pillars stood in a void of eternal darkness… only two pillars. Atop those pillars stood two figures. One was the ominous and commanding figure of Pride, the eyes on his black eagle helmet glowing red as blood. On the other stood the delicate figure of Sloth staring down her master with every ounce of hatred she had. Pride took amusement to Sloth's glare and chuckled at her. "Bad news, Sloth," he chuckled, "You're fired… **OUT OF A CANNON!**"

Before Sloth could say anything the top of the pillar beneath her opened up and she began to plummet into its depths. It didn't take long for an explosion to go off behind her and she was sent flying back out, soaring right over Pride and vanishing into the blackness of the abyss.

Nina shot up, sitting bolt upright under the covers of her bed and sweating like crazy. "Only… a dream." She panted, "… or a nightmare."

"Oh no, Sloth… your nightmare has yet to begin."

Nina turned her head to find Pride standing in her doorway. The original sin held a black sword with carvings in the blade that glowed neon green in his hand. "Now tell me Sloth, did you really think that you could escape your contract?" Pride rushed forward and pinned Nina against her bed with one hand while holding the black sword lightly to her throat with the other. "I'm going to hunt you down, and when I find you I'm going to kill you! I will watch you beg for mercy, watch you plead for me to spare your life, and then I will extract the Chi of Sloth from your body then kill you will you grovel at my feet like the mortal you are."

"N…n-n…" Nina tried to protest, but the terror she felt prevented her from speaking while her jaw quivered in fear.

"Is their something you'd like to say to me, traitor?" Pride sneered, bringing the blade away from Nina's neck and bringing it over his head, ready to plunge it into her heart.

Again, Nina found herself sitting bolt upright as she awakened from her sleep, still sweating and panting heavily. She glanced around to make sure that Pride wasn't around this time, and to her relief he wasn't. Curiously enough though, she found herself still in the dungeon lying next to Jacks cell. Jack had his back against the wall on the other side of his cell, quietly snoring as he got what little sleep he possibly could. Nina couldn't believe what was going on, had she spent the entire afternoon and well into the night talking to the self proclaimed boy genius?

_What's happening to me?_ Nina asked herself. She'd found herself caught between her contract with Pride and the other five Sins and her sudden friendship with her own prisoner. She'd thought her mission was clear, do as Pride commanded, seek out the Shen Gong Wu and capture or destroy any that got in her way. "Well this figures." She grumbled. "Turns out that I'm the villain in this series that learns something and reforms into a hero… wait… Jack's a villain too, isn't he? So I guess that means I could leave the Sins and still keep my villain status… Oh great! Now I'm breaking the fourth wall! Just shut up and go back to sleep, Nina."

**(a/n) for those of you who don't know, "breaking the fourth wall" means a character knows and points out that they are in a made up story. This is usually used for humor. Now that that's out of the way, back to the story.**

THE NEXT DAY

All the Sins had gathered in their conference room to discuss their plans once again. Apparently Pride had something new planned and everyone needed to be in on it. All but Pride and Envy, who had yet to show up, hat taken their seats and waited patently for the other two to arrive.

Soon enough, Pride appeared from nothing and took his seat in the first throne. "My fellow Sins, we have many things to discuss and not much time to do so."

"Wait," Wuya snapped. "Where's Envy?"

"Envy is elsewhere, doing as I commanded him." Pride explained. "Now then, I have set each of you a specific mission, each of which requires your specific talents and each of which I expect to be completed perfectly and all of you being unnoticed by the mortals. Sloth, you are to continue guarding the prisoner until he receives his sentence, which shouldn't take much longer. Greed, you are to act as a distraction, keep the Xiaolin monks busy while the rest of us get ready. Lust, you are to seek out a certain Shen Gong Wu, one we can not afford to lose, so do not disappoint me. Gluttony and Wrath, there is a certain someone I want you to hunt down. You are to take him to envy for confirmation and then bring him back to the dungeon. Do I make myself clear to all of you?"

"Sir!" the other Sins all called out in unison.

"Good, now get to work!"

XIAOLIN TEMPLE

"Gather 'round, troops!" Dojo called out to the gang to gather around him… in the middle of the night. "We've got two new Wu that are ripe for the pickin'." It didn't take long for Rai, Kim, Rush and Elena to find the dragon and not much longer for Omi, Mimi and Julia to show up. Clay and Saya showed up a few minutes later. Both seemed exhausted, but not in a sense like they'd just woken up. "Ok, first we've got the Skulls of Mento." Dojo continued. "These are a pair of skulls, one made of rubies and the other sapphires, that allow the two users to talk to each other no matter how far apart they are. Basically they're walky talkies with no distance limit. The second is called Odin's Eye. This is a monocle with a bronze rim that allows one to temporarily see through the eyes of another. Good for snooping, but off limits without authorization."

"Ok, let's go get 'em." Rai said. "We'll need to split up this time so…"

"I say we use the simplest way to divide up the team." Dojo suggested. Said dragon then reached off screen and pulled over what looked like one of those colorful wheels that a lot of game shows use. Dojo gave the wheel a good spin and waited until it landed on a yellow square with a few words written on it. "Ok, looks like this is a battle of the sexes. Boys go after the Skulls of Mento while the girls go after Odin's Eye. Any Questions?"

"Gotta take the fun outta everything, don't ya you stupid gecko?" Clay growled angrily.

"Do we have to go over what happened the last time someone called me a gecko?"

AUSTRALIA

"This sucks!" Julia complained. "It figures that there's finally a Shen Gong Wu in my home country and the Wu there isn't even the one I'm going after… can't we switch or something?"

"No!" Dojo snapped. "If I let you do that it would screw up the story and the readers would miss some major development in the plot!"

"Could we please stop breaking the fourth wall?" Omi demanded. "It's really not that funny!"

The team continued to argue as Dojo descended down to the Australian outback below. Rai, Clay, Omi and Rush jumped down from the Dragons back and Dojo took off without even saying goodbye, obviously just wanting to get the night over with and go back to sleep. The four teenagers waited until Dojo and the girls were well out of sight before heading out in search of the Skulls of Mento.

A few minutes later, the team had found a small brook and figured that it was as good of a place as any to search for the Skulls. So, they removed their shoes and socks, rolled their pant legs up to their knees (which didn't help much in Omi's case) and started sifting through the sand at the bottom for any signs of red or blue. Rai, Omi and Rush were working diligently the whole time, but Clay seemed to have other things on his mind: he kept laughing to himself and he couldn't stop grinning. "What's up, Clay man?" Rush asked. "You see a funny internet video or something."

Clay just started chuckling again and looked up to the stars. "So… this is what it feels like not to be a virgin." He said.

The others just gawked at in shock, Rai and Rush giving comments like "No way!" or "Yeah right!" Clay just glared at them with a raised eyebrow, which was enough to convince Omi apparently. "Guys, I don't think he's lying." Omi stated. A few more seconds of silence and all three of them suddenly burst out with "CLAY DID IT!!!"

"Oh sure, copy That '70's Show why don't you." Clay muttered.

"Hey, it's the only reference we could think of." Rai said.

"Could we please get back to looking for the Skulls of Mento?" Omi suggested. "I mean, this is news and all, but we didn't make this big of a deal when…"

"No comparisons, Omi!" the other three shouted.

"Oh god, this is making me sick to my stomach." The next thing any of the boys knew, another teenager in what looked like a prep school uniform dropped down from the sky. Everyone immediately recognized him as the Sin of Greed. "Ok, let's skip the formalities and get straight to the trash talking. Yo mama is so fat – ugh!" Greed was cut off when a small rock was tossed and him in the forehead. "Hey, what was that for? I haven't even done anything yet!"

"Nice shot Omi." Rush said, getting ready to toss a rock of his own.

"Ok, ok!" Greed shouted. "We'll skip the trash talk and go straight to the part where I unnecessarily trick you into a showdown just for the hell of it in which I will inevitably and royally get my ass kicked."

"Breaking the fourth wall again." Omi growled.

"This one's all me, guys." Rush stated. "I've been itching to get into one of these showdowns for a while now."

"Whatever you want, dude." Rai said.

SOME RANDOM CAVE

"I can't believe those guys get to go to Australia while we're stuck in some bat infested cave." Julia complained as she, Kimiko, Elena, Mimi and Saya made their way deeper into the labyrinth of caves. They'd all feel right at home here anyway. It just creeps the hell out of me."

"Quit complaining, Jewel!" Kim ordered. "The quicker we find the eye the quicker we can get the hell out of here. Trust me, we don't want to be here any more than you do."

"I guess this is the part where I randomly jump in for a climactic and more than likely unnecessary fight scene isn't it?" Out of nowhere, Wuya jumped down from the caves ceiling, the green glow from her powers illuminating almost the entire cave.

Julia froze as soon as she laid eyes on Wuya. She couldn't say what, but something about the Sin of Lust just made her go into shock. The energy surging from Wuya's body, the look of power in her eyes, the terror inducing glow coming from her hand; something about Wuya just made Jewel incapable of doing anything but sitting there and gawking.

Kim, Saya and Elena all jumped into a heated fight with Wuya right away. Mimi was going to join them right away, but the French red head noticed that Julia hadn't moved an inch since Wuya's appearance. "C'mon, Jewel."

"C-can't." Julia stuttered.

Mimi just smiled and her friend and nodded. "I understand." She said before heading off to join the others.

Wuya's hands surged with neon green energy as she hacked and slashed at her attackers. Kimiko was rapidly punching and kicking away at her while Mimi, Elena and Saya waited for the perfect time to strike. Eventually Kim made an error in her attack and Wuya managed to make a clean cut on her back, leaving searing burn marks and a gaping cut on her back. Kim cries out in pain as she fell to the ground.

"Get Kim!" Saya ordered. "This bitch is mine!"

Saya jumped down from her perch in the upper level of the cave and simultaneously charged her hands with electrical energy, trying to even the odds a little. She managed to catch Wuya off guard and a solid punch in the Sins stomach, sending electricity surging through her body. Wuya managed to keep her balance however and retaliated by slamming the heel of her foot into the Chinese girls jaw. Saya was ready to strike back, but when she regained her balance, she found that Wuya had disappeared once again.

"You're all lucky this time." Wuya's voice rang through the cave, "Had this been the Wu I was looking for I would've killed you to get it. But as it were, I have no interest in this Shen Gong Wu… take it." from the darkness of the cave fell a small glitter of gold which quickly grew into the bronze monocle they had been looking for.

Saya quickly snatched the Odin's Eye from the air and turned back to the others. Mimi and Elena had managed to help Kim regain her balance, but she was still dizzy so they still stood nearby. Jewel was leaning against a cave wall a ways away, rubbing her temple as if she had a headache. "What the hell Julia?" Saya demanded. "We could've used your help out there, you know!"

"I… I'm s-sorry." Julia stuttered.

"Jewel, Kim is seriously injured here. You were closest so you should've pulled her out of the way or something!" Saya snapped.

"Hey, don't yell at her!" Mimi shouted. "It's not her fault Kim is injured! It's Wuya's!" Mimi scowled, muttering profanity under her breath, as she made her way over to Julia and stood by her side. "Let's just get out of here and get Kim some medical attention."

The group agreed to hold off on the arguing for now and started making their way out of the cave. As soon as they could see the exit, Julia pulled Mimi off to the side to ask her something. "What do you know?" she whispered.

Mimi just smiled at her again. "Enough." She giggled.


	10. Chapter 10: The Invitation

Chapter 10: The Invitation

Rush had struggled a bit in his Showdown with Greed, but he managed to with the Skulls of Mento in the end. It didn't take long for Dojo and the girls to come flying out of the sky after Greed disappeared. The Girls had also managed to win the Odin's Eye, but apparently Saya had become a bit peeved at Julia and Kim had gotten injured in the process. But now everyone was back at the temple, Kim had taken a pill from the Chiyu Box and had healed almost instantly, and everyone was having a good nights sleep… almost everyone, that its.

Omi gazed up to the full moon as he walked silently passed the open window in the dark temple corridor. Insomnia had taken over the small monk for some reason that night so he'd decided to take a midnight stroll while his teammates slept. He hadn't been wandering long before he found himself in the library so, having nothing better to do, he figured he'd sit down and read for a while (hoping to fall asleep in the process). Omi read through book after book and scroll after scroll for what seemed like hours, but for some reason he just couldn't fall asleep. "Ok, one more and I'm heading back to bead." He complained as he searched through a row of books, hoping to find something interesting.

After about five minutes of searching, Omi finally found something that peaked his curiosity. It was a small, plain scroll with a few Chinese characters written in ink on the side. The characters simply read, "Water Style: Waves of Sono Mizu Kami." Considering that water was his element, Omi took the scroll from its place on the shelf, shuffled over to a table, and carefully unrolled it. But as the roll of paper opened up, Omi found another small slip of paper with writing trapped within the scroll. The first thing he immediately noticed about this second paper was that his name was written on it, the very first word at the top.

_Omi,_

_If you have found this scroll and are reading this note, then something terrible has or is about to happen. Some evil threatens the world you and your team mates can do little to stop it. That is why I left this scroll in the library for you to find. This scroll contains instructions on how to perform and ancient technique known as Waves of Sono Mizu Kami, the ultimate water style move. There are five such moves as this, one for each element. The other scrolls are hidden in the library as well and in time will be found by your fellow dragons. But you must focus on this one. The Waves of Sono Mizu Kami is an awe inspiring technique that is to be used only as a last resort in the most dire of situations. If you master this move, you are to use it only when you can not win otherwise. I know you well Omi, you are young, thick headed, and arrogant. But I trust you will use this wisely. I have faith in you and your team mates. _

_Signed,_

_Master Fung_

"What exactly have we gotten ourselves into?" Omi asked as he went on to read the scroll and eventually fall asleep in the middle of the library.

THE NEXT MORNING

"**MAIL CALL!**"

All nine of the young monks jumped from whatever they were doing as they heard Dojo's call ring through the temple. They all gathered around the tiny dragon and the pile of letters (and one package) behind him and waited eagerly for him to call their name. "Ok, let's see here…" Dojo mumbled as he put on a pair of reading glasses and started fingering through the envelopes. "A letter and a package for Kimiko, a couple letters for Clay, Omi got one from Jermaine, yeash… thirteen for Rai, three for Mimi, two for Elena, one for Saya (smells like its been doused in perfume), one for Julia and… sorry Rush, still nothing for you."

Rush understood and nodded with a smile before walking off to do whatever he was doing before. "I wonder why Rush never gets any mail?" Elena asked.

"Maybe he didn't get along with his parents well." Jewel stated.

"Whoa! Hold one! Looks like we have one more!" Dojo said, interrupting a total of four conversations. "And it looks like it's been addressed to all nine of you!"

Already Rush had… well, rushed back to the crowd and was waiting for someone to open this mysterious letter, which was currently in the hands of Clay. "Doesn't say who it's from." The cowboy said.

"Well, let's open it!" Mimi demanded as she snatched the envelope from Clay's hand and tore it open. She read a few lines quickly before screaming excitedly and tossing the paper to the ground. "We've all been invited to compete in the **World Fighter Tournament!**" To the French girl's surprise, she got a rather quiet response of multiple "what"s and confused looks. "You mean you guys have never heard of this?" she demanded. "It's only the biggest fighting tournament in the world, held once every five years in the mountains of Japan! Only sixteen people from around the world are invited to each event!"

"Then why invite all of us?" Rush asked. "That would make nine reps for China, wouldn't it?"

"Actually, only two. China, China, Brazil, Japan, USA, France, Australia, Spain, and South Africa, remember?" Mimi chuckled. Rush nodded.

By this time, Rai had grabbed the invitation from the ground and had started reading through (as had multiple people over his shoulder). "It says here that if we go we'll have free travel, free rooms, access to five star restaurants, and… it'll basically be a vacation outside of the arena!"

"Yeah, and get this," Kim added, "You can room with one person if you'd like… and they're all coed." The Japanese girl looked up to her boyfriend seductively and gave him a wink. It was all Rai could do to grin and wink back at her.

"So… what now?" Saya asked.

"All in favor of going?" Mimi shouted. Nine hands immediately shot into the air. "It's unanimous then! Look out, World Fighter Tournament, the Xiaolin Monk are headed your way!"

And so, it was decided. The next day, Dojo would fly the nine of them over to Japan where they would meet up with the other seven contestants and from there their host would lead them to the arena and whatever else they had to look forward to. Everyone was speculating how it would end, Omi continually claimed that he would win every match and become the champion and Mimi had to tell him to be quiet just as often. For the rest of the day everyone went about their usual business, though the tournament was constantly on their minds, then they ate dinner and packed whatever they would need before going to bed for the night.

It was late into the night now, well around three in the morning. But once again, Omi found that insomnia had taken over. The news of the tournament had gotten him so excited, he just couldn't sleep. He had to do something, he had to… train! That's it, he had to train on that new technique from the scroll. Omi quietly crept out of bed and snuck out of the sleeping chamber, making sure not to wake his eight team mates. However, Omi was so preoccupied watching the curtains in case some one woke up that he didn't watch where he was going and knocked his toe against the wall, hard. Omi grunted in pain, refraining from yelling the best he could. He silently hopped out of the room on one leg from there and then started down the hall towards the vault. Despite his efforts to keep quiet, he did manage to wake up one person.

"Omi, that you honey?" Mimi yawned as she sleepily walked out of her room. She defiantly heard foot steps heading towards the vault. Mimi figured she'd investigate so long as she was awake and followed, rubbing her eyes and yawning the whole way.

As she'd suspected, the sound of the footsteps had led her to the vault chamber and, who would've guessed, the vault was open. She French girl made her way down the spiral stair case until she reached the bottom, finding no one and one Wu missing: the Orb of Tornami. "Definitely Omi." She muttered. She turned around to head back to bead, but as she did she was suddenly dizzy and placed her hand on the wall for balance, accidentally opened a drawer for one the Wu: Odin's Eye.

She went to push the drawer back in place, but something stopped her. Odin's Eye had the power to let her see through the eyes of any other person. _No, Mimi, _she mentally scolded herself, _that would be an invasion of privacy. You can't just... Oh, damn curiosity!_

The red headed girl grabbed the golden monocle from its drawer, placed it against her right eye and muttered its name. She decided to pick someone at random within the temple walls, figuring she'd just see the back of some ones eye lids anyway.

The French redhead found herself looking through the eyes of someone looking down to what looked like a pigeon in their hands. From the look of the hands, it was an elderly person. The person set the pigeon on a table and then grabbed a small slip of paper sitting beside it. The paper only had four words written on it: _The time is soon._ The person then took the note and a piece of string and carefully tied it around the birds' leg. The pigeon then flew off for the window and disappeared into the night sky.

Mimi tore the Odin's Eye away from her face and threw it back in its drawer. "What in the world was that?" she demanded.

THE NEXT DAY

"There it is! That's where we're supposed to meet the other contestants and our guide!" Kim shouted as Dojo flew over the mountains of Japan with his nine passengers.

"You sure?" Dojo asked.

"I'm native to this country, I think I know my way around." Kim said.

Dojo grumbled something sarcastic as he dove down to the spot that Kim had pointed out. It was a small bamboo forest up in the mountains with a small brook running through it. From the looks of it, only three other contestants had arrived so far. Dojo landed and let his nine passengers off before shrinking down to his normal size.

Omi was the first to notice who the other three present contestants were. "Guan! Jermaine!... Katnappe?"

Indeed, the three others were two of their old friends and one recurring rival. As soon as he'd noticed that Omi and the others had arrived, Jermaine casually walked over to them and gave Omi a high five. "What's up, Omi dawg?" And that's when the Black New Yorker noticed Rush. "And what the hell is this?" he asked sarcastically. "I'm gone for, like, one year and you guys go and replace me? I thought I was the teams' token black guy…" Jermaine walked over to Rush and gave him a stern look and Rush just stared right back. "I'm just pullin' yer chain. Nice to meet ya, dude."

"You too. My name's Rush, South African."

"I'm Jermaine, New Yorker born and raised… And who are all these other new faces I see?" he continued. "Is the Temple suddenly filled with girls since I left last time?"

"I'm going to tell you the same thing I told Rush," Julia chuckled, "You don't have a snowballs chance in hell, before the Eagles got back together, of going out with me. So, please, don't even try."

"Hint taken." Jermaine laughed. "And I'm guessing that the same goes for the rest of you?"

Elena was the first to speak. "Well… you are cute, but I'm not into your type."

"Sorry," Saya chuckled, "But I'm with Clay." Just to prove her point, Saya moved over to Clay and grabbed his hand.

Everyone had been so busy catching up (or getting to know in a few cases) Jermaine that no one noticed Guan and Katnappe walk up to the group. "Glad to see you all again." Guan said. "Though I can't say I even know half of you."

"Master Monk Guan! You were invited as well?" Omi asked.

"Yes. The people running this tournament must know talent when they see it, eh?" Guan chuckled. "I look forward to meeting you in combat, young monk."

"As do I." Omi agreed.

"Ugh, you people make me sick." Katnappe snapped. "Had I known that nay of you would've been here I wouldn't even have agreed to enter. But, whatever. I'm going to win the thing and then the prize money is all mine!"

"There is no prize money." Mimi explained.

"**WHAT!!!!!!!!!!**"

"This tournament is purely for sportsmanship. All profit goes directly to charity."

"Oh, this is complete **BULL**! If I weren't already signed up I'd leave right now." Katnappe muttered to herself as she angrily walked away to sulk by herself.

Everyone continued with their conversation for a while, moving from person as they waited for the other four contestants to arrive. But the hours slowly passed and no one else showed up. Patients for all twelve of them (with the exception of Guan) were wearing thin.

Finally, after a good three hours or so, some one else arrived and everyone was completely shocked as to who it was. The spiky red hair, the stupid goggles, the black trench coat, it could only be… "Jack Spicer?" Katnappe questioned as Jack deactivated the helabot and landed next to her. "How the hell did you get invited here?"

"You know, Ashley," Jack said, sounding a little irritated, "Normally I would come back at that with a stupid and sarcastic remark, but I'm really not in the mood right now. So, anything you have to say to me why don't you just write it down and then shove it." With that, Jack walked away to silently wait.

_Whoa…_Katnappe thought as she watched Jack walk away, _Jack's really become a hard ass since I last saw him in Iceland…I think I like this new Jack._

Another hour passed before anyone else showed up. And again, for the people that knew the next two to arrive it was a complete shock. The first was a woman with long auburn hair wearing barely anything at all and the second was a young man dressed in what looked like a school uniform or a business suit. Guan, Jermaine, and Katnapped just ignored them, not knowing who they were, while Jack and the monks glared at them in hatred.

"Lust and Greed…" Kimiko growled. "What the hell are you two doing here?"

"Relax kid, we were invited to this tournament, same as you were." Lust protested. "We have no intention of trying to kill you for the time being. However, once this is over nothing will stop me from trying to rip all of your throats out one by one."

"I'm just here to kick some ass." Greed yawned.

"Ah, good, you're all here."

Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked over to where the voice had come from. And elderly man with a bald head, bifocals and a thick white mustache dressed to look like butler was standing in the entrance to a path leading into the forest. "Welcome, all sixteen contestants. My employer and I hope that you enjoy your stay at his estate while the tournament is underway. I am your guide for the day, Renfield."

"Sixteen?" Rai asked. "Those glasses aren't helping much, dude. There's only fifteen of us here."

"Ah, but you forget the short one." Renfield explained.

"EXCUSE ME!?" Omi demanded.

"Shorter than you, my friend. Much shorter."

Confused, Omi began to look around his feet for someone that fit Renfields description. He didn't find a thing. He then started to wander around in search of this person. Still nothing. "Well where the heck is this guy?" Omi asked, irritated.

"Are you blind, young monk? Or are you still not looking low enough?"

Omi looked down to the ground and, guess what, third shock of the day. There he saw the sixteenth and final competitor in the tournament. It was a Hamster standing on two legs dressed in what looked like Xiaolin Robes that had been made for a doll. "It's a… rodent…" Omi said, "A rodent… dressed in tiny robes… you've got to be kidding me."

LOCATION UNKNOWN

"So Wrath, everything is set for our little surprise?" Pride questioned. He and Wrath were currently the only ones in the conference room. They were discussing their current plans whatever they were up to.

"Just I explained it to you, Lord Pride." Wrath said. "The Xiaolin monks are gunna have one hell of a time getting out of this one. And Odds are they'll all be dead by the time I'm through with them."

"And what about our 'guests'?" Pride asked.

"In position and completely oblivious. As far as they're concerned, they're as good as free."

"Excellent." Pride grinned and raised his arm, aiming his open hand directly at Pride. His hand began to glow neon green. Some feeling came over Pride. Nothing emotional, more like a physical feeling. He looked down to his arms to find that they were slowly fading from his mechanical arms to actual flesh and blood. He couldn't believe it, his actual arms had returned to him, just as Pride had promised when he joined the Sins. He went to touch one of his hands, but just as one hand came in contact with the other they reverted back to their mechanical form.

"If this works, you will have your real arms returned to you. But if this fails, then I shall turn your entire body into steel, and your consciousness will fade from this reality. Do not fail me…"

"Of course not, Lord Pride." Wrath pleaded. "I shall be victorious."

* * *

(a/n) ok, I know what your thinking: what's with the talking hamster? well trust me, I know what I'm doing. this character, hense forth simply known as Hamster, is going to have a bigger role in the story than most talking rodent characters in modern media. think of him as a mixture of master splinter (from TMNT) and the hooded man from the Fifth Dragon. he isnt exactly what he looks like. on another note, if you think that I am now hinting at a sort of love triangle between Jack, Sloth and Katnappe, then damn you with your psychic abilities. I'm not even going to bother hiding it and you had to see something like this coming. one last thing, I hope you all are looking forward to the upcoming tournament. I already have the roster set up, but I'd like to know what you think some good match up for the battles would be. and now I take my leave. 


	11. Chapter 11: The Preliminaries

(a/n) a quick note before you start reading. not very important, I'd just like to tell you that all the matches in this chapter, even though they seem to happen one after another, happen at the same time. yeah, that's it.

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Chapter 11: The Preliminaries

All sixteen contestants were gathered in a room somewhere deep within a mansion. One entire wall was one big window, looking out over a spectacular view of the forest and the tournament Arena's, a total of four to be exact. The rest of the walls and the ceiling were simply painted sky blue, one wall having a door, and the floor was hard wood. Standing at one end of the room behind a table with a box on it was Renfield, the elderly butler.

"Now then," Renfield called out, "When I call your name, you are to take a number from the box. After all sixteen of you have a number I will explain the rules of the tournament. First up, Clay Bailey." Clay stepped forward from the crowd and reached his hand into the box. His had reemerged holding what looked like a billiard ball with a number of in.

"Say's number four." Clay said.

"Excellent." Renfield said. The old man clapped his hands and, to every ones amazement, a section of the wall behind him flipped over to reveal a small chalk board with a tournament roster already drawn on it. Renfield then produced a piece of white chalk from his pocket and wrote Clay's name under the fourth position on the roster. "Next, Elena Murrieta." Just as Clay did, Elena stepped forward and reached into the box and pulled out a white billiard ball, but this one had a five on it. Renfield then wrote down Elena's name under the space next to Clay. Greed went next, picking a six, and then Guan taking number one. Then when the little Hamster man (who amazingly had no trouble grabbing onto the ball) who picked number two. Jack Spicer picked seven and Jermaine picked eight. Then Julia went up. She did the same as the others and grabbed a ball from the box. But the look on her face seemed confused when she saw the number.

"Um, sir, I think there's a mistake here. I got the same number as Elena." Jewel explained.

"That is no mistake." Renfield said. "I will explain after the roster is complete." Jewel just shrugged it off and went back to the crowd. Katnappe went up next and she too got a number that was already taken, number eight. Kim ended up getting the first three of the batch. Wuya grabbed a six, the same number as Greed. Mimi picked number one and her name was placed underneath Guan's. Omi drew the second number eight. Ria ended up getting the second number four and Rush took the second number two. And that left Saya with the second three.

"Now that you all have chosen your numbers, let me explain." Renfield began. "Eight of you have chosen a number, and the other eight have chosen a copy of that number. The two people with the same number have been teamed up for their first match. The two number ones will face the two number twos in a two on two match. Then the threes and the fours will battle and so on in that fashion."

From there everyone received the keys to their rooms and went off to do their own thing. Lust and Greed completely vanished without a trace. Most of the others went off to the gym to train before the matches started the next day. Guan and Hamster were confidant enough in their abilities, however, to relax for the rest of the day. Jack Spicer also managed to sneak away from the others.

Jack silently closed the door to his room and locked it behind him. It was the size of an average hotel room. There was a small living room with a couch, a dresser and a mid sized TV. Closer to the door were two other door, one leading to a closet and the other to the bathroom. Another door in the back lead to the bed room. Jack tossed his luggage onto the floor and couch and made his way into the bedroom. So many questions were running through his head, particularly why the Sins had allowed him to compete in the tournament. He was their prisoner, so why had they given him a clear shot at freedom? And another question was why Lust and Greed had invited to the tournament as well. As far as he knew, no one in the world other than the monks knew they existed. "Something's definitely going on here." Jack muttered as he plopped down on the bed.

"Tell me about it."

Jack sat up and looked over to the door. There stood Nina, the Sin of Sloth and as of now his only friend in his now miserable existence. "Nina, what are you doing here? And how did you get it? I locked the door."

"I'm a Sin, remember? I can teleport basically anywhere I want." Nina explained.

"Ok… so, you have any idea what is really going on here?" Jack asked.

Nina shook her head. "As far as I know, the Sins aren't involved in any way. Greed and Lust are purely a coincidence." Jack sighed and fell back onto the bed. Nina sat down next to him. "So, why don't we talk about something else?" she suggested. "How do you think you'll do in your match tomorrow?"

"Well, I've been teamed up with baldy to fight freaky cat girl and one of those black guys in the fourth match so… I don't know."

The two were silent for a time after that, just sitting on the bed next to each other trying to think of something, anything. Finally, Nina snapped from the silence, she needed to say something. "Jack, I probably have to leave soon. Pride might be getting suspicious. But before I go, there's something I want to tell you."

Jack sat up and looked at her, confused. "What's that, Nina?" he asked.

As soon as Jack had finished speaking, Nina grabbed him by the shoulders, pulled him towards her and kissed him quickly. But as quickly as she'd pulled him in, she pushed him away and stood up. "Good luck tomorrow." She smiled before walking out the door and silently disappearing.

THE NEXT DAY

The stands around the four arenas of the World Fighter Tournament were filled with screaming and cheering spectators as the sixteen contestants made their way into their assigned arena. In the center of all four stood the announcer; a skater type young man from Los Angeles wearing baggy jeans, a gray tank top, a pair of sunglasses, a sideways base ball cap, and some bling. The contestants looked up to the crowd, some smiling and waving back, others absorbing the attention like a sponge, and others becoming embraced and looking away. It was time for the World Fighter Tournament to finally begin!

"All right ladies and gentlemen!" the announcer shouted into the microphone, "Are you all ready to see these nice people kick the snot out of each other?" this brought on an earsplitting cheer from the crowd.

"Who're you calling nice?" Greed muttered under his breath.

"Then let's get this thing started!" the announcer continued. "In arena number one we have Mimi Cooper, all the way from France and her partner for this match, Master Monk Guan, a martial arts master from China! These two skilled fighters are going up against Rush, the trouble maker from South Africa and… Hamster, from parts unknown!" the crowd cheered and screamed again as the four waved and cheered back at them.

"In arena number two," the announcer continued, "This is a battle of the sexes, not to mention couples! Kimiko Tohomiko, heiress to the legendary Tohomiko Toy Company in right here in Japan and Saya from Xiaolin Temple, China are going up against their boyfriends Raimundo Pedrosa from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and Clay Bailey from Texas, USA!"

"In arena number three we have the daughter of a famous Spanish toreador Elena Murrieta and the Australian surfer chick, Julia Marsh battling against the fierce team of the beautiful Miss Lust and American millionaire playboy Greed!"

And finally, in arena number four we have Xiaolin monk born and raised Omi and self proclaimed boy genius Jack Spicer going up against New York gangster born and raised Jermaine and the jungle cat herself, Katnappe!"

The crowd roared with excitement as each of the fighters was introduced. From the many signs and screams most could tell that Master Monk Guan was the odds on favorite. Many of the young monks in the arenas were pretty sure they saw Master Fung somewhere among the crowd, though each saw him in a different spot. Jack also thought that he was Nina at one point before the fighting started. Only Greed and Lust were positive they saw someone they knew, Pride was watching silently with his arms crossed in the last row of the stands.

"Ok, ladies and gentlemen, you all came here to see some major ass kicking so that's what we're going to give you! Let me explain the rules for those of you who aren't familiar. Each battle is an all out war between all contestants. There are no illegal blows and no restricted targets. Only weapons are forbidden. If a contestant should be KOed or knocked out of the arena, they are eliminated for the match. Once both partners for a team are eliminated, the match is over and the winning team moves on to fight each other in the quarterfinals tomorrow! Everyone understand?" More cheering. "All right, then let's get started! Fighters, **HIT IT!**"

Rush and Mimi charged at each other as soon as they were allowed while Guan and Hamster remained stationary waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike. Rush opened by launching a punch at Mimi's shoulder. Mimi managed to sidestep the attack, causing Rush to stumble forward, and then elbow him in the spine. Rush tumbled to the ground. However, he managed to catch his balance on his hands and then launch himself back at her, slamming his feet into her back. Mimi fell face first onto the concrete floor of the arena.

"C'mon Mimi. You've gotta do better than that if you wanna make it passed the prelim's." Rush jeered as he took a fighting stance.

Mimi forced herself back to her feet and spat at the ground. "Oh, trust me," she jeered right back, "I'm just getting started!" Mimi charged at her opponent again. But this time her hands were open with fingers extended instead of having a closed fist. She was too fast for Rush this time and she managed to jab all four of her fingers directly into his stomach. Rush fell back clutching his stomach and landing on his ass. "You didn't think I'd come here without a secret weapon, did you?" Mimi asked. "I know all about pressure points on the human body. I could easily paralyze you if I wished. You're lucky we're friends."

"I'll keep that in mind." Rush grumbled. "But you need to work on your defense. You leave yourself wide open." To prove his point, Rush elevated himself off of the floor with his hands and swung his leg under Mimi's legs, knocking her off her feet. As quick as a flash, before Mimi had even hit the ground, Rush then jumped to his feet and landed a solid punch onto Mimi's chest, sending her flying straight back and of the arena.

"And that's it!" the announcer called into his microphone, "the match in arena one is over! Rush and Hamster move onto the quarterfinals!"

"Say wha…"Rush said to himself, barely able to hear himself over the roaring of the fans. He looked over to where he'd last seen Hamster and Guan to Find Guan lying in the grass outside of the arena unconscious being attended to by medics while Hamster was standing in the exact same spot that he'd started in. "Well I'll be damned."

Meanwhile in arena two Saya and Kim were going at it with Clay and Rai. Rai was unleashing a barrage of punches and round house kicks at Kimiko while Kim dodged each one with ease. Eventually, Kim found an opening and launched her fist at Rai's face. Rai noticed this immediately and jumped back, using his power over wind to get some extra distance.

"Let Saya and I win and I'll make it worth your while in bed tonight." Kimiko smirked as her hands became engulfed in fire.

"Bribing me with sex, Kimiko?" Rai asked sarcastically, "You really are the girl for me!" he laughed. "But I'm afraid that's not going to work this time!" Rai clapped his hands together and a small tornado shot out from in between them, heading straight for Kimiko. The Tornado quickly drew Kim in close just like they both wanted. The wind had unfortunately put out Kimiko's torch hands so the fight went back to an old fashion fist fight. The two went at it, slowly circling and moving closer and closer to the edge of the arena. They were both now standing on the edge, still circling and throwing fists. When everything was perfectly positioned, Rai put his plan into action. Without any warning at all, Rai moved in close and gave Kim a quick kiss, causing her to freeze in confusion. The Brazilian then placed one finger on her fore head, said, "See ya," and gently pushed her out of the arena an onto the grass below.

"That was a dirty trick, Rai!" Kim snapped, though still smiling.

"What can I say?" Rai grinned.

"You could say you're sorry!" Out of nowhere, Rai felt knuckles hit the back of his skull and he stumbled forward. He too fell out of the arena and, ironically, landed on top of Kimiko. "That's what you get for fighting dirty!" Saya called from the arena.

"Don't forget who you're fighting, baby!"

Saya ducked down as Clay's fist came soaring at her head. The Chinese girl then launched herself over the Texan, doing a back flip, and landed gracefully behind him. "And you don't forget who you're fighting." She mocked. "I've been doing this stuff since I was five, remember?"

"Yeah, yeah." Clay muttered. "Let's just start fighting again." Clay then slammed his fists against the floor. Small chunks of concrete quickly shot up from the ground and encased his hands in stone gauntlets.

"Agreed." Saya said as electricity began to surge through her hands. Saya was ready to zap Clay to unconsciousness if she had to. Clay, on the other hand, had different plans. Saya rushed at Clay while Clay just stood there with his arms open. She realized to late what was going and ended up being trapped in one of Clay's famous bear hugs. _That smart little… he's using the stone on his hands to block my electricity!_ Saya mentally growled.

"Sorry baby, but I'm here to win, same as you are." Clay said as he turned around and, causing Saya's legs to dangle over the side of the arena. "No hard feelings." With that, Clay dropped her onto the grass.

In arena three, things weren't quite as heated. Elena and Greed were going at it like animals; there was no doubt about that. But, who would've guessed, that it happened again. Julia had become paralyzed by the mere sight of Lust yet again and Wuya was taking advantage of it. Instead of attacking her physically, Wuya was attacking her emotionally. Constantly, Wuya gave remarks and insults that could only mean one thing…

"What's wrong, Jewel?" Wuya asked as she slowly walked closer and closer the immobilized girl. "Why won't you fight?" By now Jewel had realized that Lust was getting to close and managed to start backing away from her. Problem was, every step back she took, she got closer and closer to the edge of the arena. "Fine," Wuya continued. "I'll skip the small talk and skip right to the point." Julia gulped, she was almost certain about what was coming. She took another step back only to realize that she'd run out of arena. There was no backing away now.

"I know what you are." Wuya jeered. "I know why you can't bring yourself to fight me." By now, Wuya was standing directly in from of Jewel and had knelt down slightly to make eye contact. "I can see it all in your eyes. You won't fight me for the same reason that millions of men around the world will kill each other for a chance at me…" Julia managed to tear her eyes away from Wuya to look over to Elena and Greed. Elena was fighting like a true warrior, taking hit after hit and still coming back for more. Comparing herself to Elena, Julia might as well have considered herself a complete coward. _Maybe that's why…_ Jewel thought, but Wuya spoke against before she could finish. "You can not bring yourself to strike that which you lust after."

That tore it. That one sentence was enough to break Jewel of her curse with just the sight of the Sin of Lust. "Not any more!" She muttered. In one swift movement Julia clenched her hand into a fist, swung, and slammed her knuckles into Wuya's face. "I'm not going to be intimidated by you anymore, Lust. And I'm not going to hide who I really am, either!"

Wuya stumbled back, clutching her face with both hands. She managed to catch a glimpse of Julia through her fingers. She wasn't afraid anymore. Julia stood at the edge of the arena with a confident yet enraged face, all the while cracking her knuckles for another punch.

Wuya tore her hands away from her face to find something she hadn't seen in over fifteen hundred years. "Blood! I'm bleeding!... You little… **BITCH!**" Wuya's hands suddenly burst into neon green flames and she ran at Julia. She slashed with her razorblade nails once and Julia stumbled out of the arena. The attack had cut clean through her shirt and had made three bloody though shallow cuts on her stomach. Those were defiantly going to scar.

"Jewel!" Elena shouted. She completely forgot about Greed and ran off. She was almost passed Wuya when…

"What're you doing?" Greed called. "If you leave the arena you'll throw the match for both of you!"

"Like I care!" Elena shouted back. "A friends well being is a thousand times more important than some stupid tournament."

And that just leaves arena number four. Like the other fights, it had split up into two duels. Omi and Jermaine were fighting each other for old times sake which left Jack and Katnappe (to her pleasure) to fight each other closer to the edge of the ring.

Jack was having a hard time keeping up with Katnappe's moves without any of his tech to help him. Figures there's a no weapons rule. On the bright side, however, Katnappe wasn't allowed to use her genetically enhanced kittens in the fight either.

Jack barely managed to duck under one of Katnappe's slashes as he got caught up in his thoughts. This, however, gave Jack the perfect opportunity to land a clean punch in Katnappe's gut. The girl managed to jump out of the way before Jack could land the punch, however. Katnappe jumped right over Jack, doing multiple flips in the process, and landed silently behind him. "Hey Jack, I'm behind you!" she jeered. Jack spun around, ready to take anything she could throw at him… anything but what she planned to throw at him.

As soon as Jack had turned around completely her felt Katnappe's lips pressing against his own. _You've got to be kidding me…I get kissed twice in the same chapter? _Jack mentally asked himself. _Since when am I a babe magnet?_ The kiss only lasted a fraction of a second before Jack hastily pushed Katnappe away. "Back off, Ashley!" he ordered. "I… I've already got someone."

"What?" Katnappe demanded. "Who is this bitch? I'll claw her effing eyes out!"

Now Jack was confused to no end. "Um…" Time for a change of subject. "Look… a helpless little kitty is about to get run over by a truck." He said in a monotone voice.

Katnappe spun around to find the cat that Jack had mentioned but realized too late that there wasn't a road or a truck for miles. Jack took advantage of her confusion and placed one hand against her back, then pushed her out of the arena. "I can't believe you fell for that!" he laughed.

Omi and Jermaine were having a much more intense and silent battle. Truth be told, neither of them had landed a single hit yet. Punch after punch, kick after kick, and fancy martial arts move after fancy martial arts move neither of them could land a hit to save their life. There was a good side to this, however. The long period of dodging and fail attacks was slowly wearing the two out. It was only a matter of time before one of them slowed down just enough.

Jermaine sidestepped Omi's kick and went in for the attack, amazingly missing Omi's head. "I missed your head?" Jermaine complained. "How the hell did I miss your enormous head?"

"Oh look, and opening." Omi chuckled. The little monk leapt into the air and made a swift round house kick to Jermaine's forehead. The impact sent him flying out of the arena just like so many others.

"And that's it! It's over!" the announcer called. "The Prelim's are over! Omi, Jack, Lust, Greed, Rai, Clay, Rush and Hamster are all moving on to the Quarterfinals! Let's hear it for today's big winners!"


	12. Chapter 12: Dark Secrets

(a/n) I know what your thinking, Ive just been cranking out the chapters lately. well, thats because Ive had these chapters planned out for a long time. anyway, I thank all of you for waiting patiently and Im proud to announce that I am finally revealing Julias secret. I seriously cant believe no one figured it out. all well.

* * *

Chapter 12: Dark Secrets

Julia sighed as she looked over to the clock next to the couch in her hotel room. It was five passed eight. "What could be taking her so long?" she asked herself as she went back to flipping channels on the TV. After the fight with Lust and Greed Julia had been taken to the infirmary to have the cuts on her abdominal area checked out. The cuts weren't that deep so the doctor just wrapped a white medical bandage around her stomach and let her out, though he did advise her to take it easy for a couple days. After being release she found all of her friends waiting outside the infirmary for her. All nine of them went off to celebrate Rush, Rai, Clay, and Omi's victories and that took up most of the night. At about six the group started to retire to their rooms. Julia and Elena left at the same time and as the walked to their rooms, Jewel told Elena to meet her in her room at about eight. When Elena asked why, Jewel said she'd explain later.

Finally, two knocks sounded at the door. Jewel shouted for them to come in and, sure enough, Elena came walking in. "Hey Jewel, how're the battle scars?" she giggled.

"Fine, fine." Jewel said as she clicked the off button on the TV remote.

Elena walked over to the couch and sat down next toe Jewel. "So, what did you want to talk about?" she asked.

Jewel sighed again. "It's kind of complicated." She said. "Part of it is sort of explaining what happened when I fought Wuya today… but another part is just for my own peace of mind.

"You don't need to explain anything to me, Jewel. You're intimidated by Lust, it's no big deal." Elena insisted.

"Trust me, it's a lot more complicated than that." Jewel said. "And the whole Wuya thing isn't even the half of it. I'm going tow warn you though, this is kind of an emotional subject for me. So if you don't want to hear it, just walk out that door."

"Jewel…" Elena said softly as she placed her hand on Jewel's shoulder. "If something's troubling you, then go ahead and tell me. We are friends after all, and I'll be there for you no matter what. I'm sure anyone else on the team would say that too."

Jewel smiled and pulled Elena into a tight hug, muttering "thank you" into her ear. The two then pulled apart and Jewel then started to explain. "Ok, here's the thing. I've been keeping something secret for years now, something sort of big. Rai found out about it a few years ago back in Brazil, and he seemed fine with it, and I'm starting to think that Mimi figured it out too. The thing is, I've been hiding part of me, a part of me that I shouldn't be ashamed of, but I'm just to afraid of what other people are going to think. I was able to keep a low profile on it for years… and then I came to the temple. It was still ok at first, but then we started battling the Sins. I couldn't bring myself to fight with the Sin of Lust, as you probably noticed. Omi and Rush said they could barely move either when they first fought her as a Sin, and you have to remember what Rush said about her."

"Yeah," Elena said, "Rush said she was the best looking woman he ever seen. But what's that got to do with you?"

"Well… it's kind of… it's kind of the same thing with me. I've figured out that Lusts power doesn't just work on men, but anyone who's… who is attracted to women in general.

It took a few seconds for Elena to get what Jewel was saying, but it dawned on her after a few seconds. "Wait, are you saying that…"

"Yeah." Julia broke in. "I'm gay." Finally, she'd told someone. Jewel couldn't believe how good it felt to actually let someone else know who she was without them finding out by accident. Still, she couldn't rejoice yet. Elena hadn't made a sound since Jewel had told her and there was no way of telling how she would take it. "Elena?"

Elena just sat there staring at Jewel silently with her mouth hanging open slightly. She didn't know what to say or what to do or anything. Elena didn't have anything against homosexuals, but then again she'd never actually met one as far as she knew… until now that is. Elena was still deep in her thoughts when something inside of her snapped. Out of nowhere she pulled Jewel into another tight hug. "Did you really think I'd care?" she asked. "Like I said, I'm your friend, Jewel. I'll be there for you no matter what." Jewel sat there in shock for a second or two, but came to her senses after that and wrapped her arms around Elena, it was all she could to whisper "thank you" to her again.

"There's still one thing I don't get though." Elena said as she pulled away from Jewel. "Of everyone on the team, why did you choose to tell me? You so realize that Kim thinks you're into Rai, right?"

"I was about to get to that." Jewel said. "There's something else I wanted to tell you, and you specifically. You see, when Kim and I were sent into the future, we told you we met our future selves, right." Elena nodded. "Well, there were a few things we left out about that trip. And there's one thing that Kim doesn't even know about. You see, I had a talk with my older self, and I convinced her or me or whatever to not to tell Kim. But, when I went to talk to her by myself, I found out something that I didn't even expect."

"Wait…" Elena broke in, "… you're not saying that…"

"Yep… you and me. Our future selves are together. You have to understand, I hadn't even thought about anything like that until the whole Quasar Cube incident… but ever since… I honestly haven't been able to stop thinking about you."

Again, Elena went silent. It was one thing that Julia had come out of the closet to her, but now she was admitting that she had a crush on her! That was just… she couldn't even think of a way to describe it. "Whoa… Jewel… I don't know what to say… I… I need to think about this, ok."

With that Elena stood up and started towards the door, stopping only to turn around and nod when Jewel thanked her for listening once again. Then Elena walked off towards her room to silently try to get some sleep.

THAT NIGHT

Midnight. Most everyone on the estate was asleep by this time. One exception, however, was Jermaine who just couldn't get to sleep after his loss to Omi earlier that day. Sure, he was happy that his friend had won and all, but something about that fight didn't seem right. It almost seemed… fixed. But how would that even be possible? Jack and Katnappe are both dimwits and Omi would never even consider fixing a fight, or even know how for that matter. "Why doesn't this seem right?" he asked himself as he gazed out to the arenas from the roof of the hotel.

"You are simply disappointed that you lost."

Jermaine looked over his shoulder to find Master Monk Guan standing a few yards away. "Master Monk Guan!?" Jermaine stuttered. Having never met Guan, he had no idea of how to react to his presence.

"Please, call me Guan." Guan insisted, chuckling. "I am not, nor have I ever been, your teacher, so there is no reason to be so formal."

"Ok then, Guan. What were you saying again?"

"I was simply suggesting that you are only disappointed that you and Katnappe lost against Omi and Jack Spicer." Guan said as he walked up beside Jermaine. "A loss is a disappointment, but you will get over it."

"No, man, that ain't it." Jermaine insisted. "I could care less about the fact that I lost. It's just that something doesn't seem right about this whole tournament. First off, isn't a little suspicious that almost everyone here knows each other? And second off, Omi's told me about the Sins in his letters. Why are Wuya, or should I say the Sin of Lust, and the Sin of Greed here? And one last thing, in every fighting tournament I've seen on TV the guy that organizes the event always introduces himself to the fighters. So why haven't we met the guy that brought us all here?"

"So, this is what truly troubles you." Guan said. "In that case, we are on the same page. I, too, have been suspicious of this event since I first received my invitation."

"So whaddo ya think the deal is?"

"I am not sure…" Guan paused after catching a glimpse of something down in the arena. "But I believe they may be able to tell us."

Jermaine looked down to the arenas, trying to spot who or what Guan was talking about. It didn't take him long to find them. Four figured were standing at the doorway that leads in and out of the arena area. He easily recognized two of them as Wuya and Greed. But the other two he was completely oblivious about who they were.

"I believe that a little snooping is in order." Guan said, crossing his arms.

"Yeah." Jermaine agreed. "Or we could get the info we want the old fashion way and beat it out of them." With that, Jermaine hopped the railing of the roof and started jumping from lamp post to lamp post on his way to the arenas.

"Foolish boy doesn't know what he's getting himself into." Guan spat as his rushed after Jermaine.

THE ARENAS

"So Wrath, who's the stiff?" Wuya questioned, referring to the cloaked and hooded figure standing next to the Cyborg. As part of the latest Sin's latest scheme, Lust and Greed had agreed to meet with Wrath that night. They didn't expect anyone else to be there, however.

"No freakin' idea." Wrath said while chewing on the end of his cigar. "Pride said this guy was going to crash this little party. Said he's some kind of oracle or something."

"An oracle, ya say?" Greed laughed. "I seriously doubt that. Go ahead, make an accurate prediction."

"In about five minutes you are going to receive a severe blow to the back of the head." The cloaked man said calmly.

"HA! Again, I doubt it." Greed laughed.

As quick as a flash, the oracle ran over to Greed, reached out with one gloved hand and grabbed Greed by the neck, lifting him into the air. "You dare question me?" he demanded. From inside the darkness of his hood Greed could easily see his eyes. Those horribly, neon yellow, dragon like eyes.

"Ach!" Greed choked. "I get it, I get it! No questioning the oracle!"

"So, why are we here again?" Wuya asked, obviously annoyed by Greed.

"You two have everything set up, right? Pride will have our hides if we screw this up." Wrath said.

"Yeah, yeah, we're all set." Greed grumbled. "I still don't see why we have to do all this though. What's the point of this whole tournament anyway? Wouldn't it make more sense to just kill them all?"

"No, you fool!" Wrath snapped. "If we kill even a single one of them, we risk losing… you know! However, if we keep them all in suspended animation for the rest of their lives then we won't have to worry about them for a good fifty to seventy years. And you know that need to worry about them by then."

"Wrath is right. Plus there's sure to be a juicy reword for us if Pride is pleased with our work. But I still don't see the point in the oracle." Wuya pointed out.

"Along with predicting the future, I also have the ability to sense those who you seek. If even one of them gets within a kilometer of me I'll know it immediately. And if I'm not deceiving myself, which I know I'm not, all of them are present here… by the by, it's been five minutes."

Right on cue, a figure came falling from the sky and slammed his feet into the back of Greed's head. Greed fell to the ground, roaring in pain and rage as the person that had attacked him made himself known. "Who's the bitch now?" Jermaine said smugly. "I've always wanted to say that line."

"I hope you realize what kind of hell you've just gotten us into." Guan said bitterly as he landed next to Jermaine and took a fighting stance.

"What do you mean 'us'?" Jermaine asked. "You could've stayed out of this if you wanted."

"**ALL RIGHT! WHICH ONE OF YOU IS THE ONE THAT KICKED THE BACK OF MY EFFING HEAD!!!** **'CAUSE WHEN I FIND OUT THAT ONE IS FREAKIN' DEAD!!!**" Greed yelled at the top of his lungs. Steam was literally shooting from his ears and his blood was literally staring to boil. "**WELL?**"

Both Jermaine and Guan pointed to each other while still keeping an eye on Greed and said, "He did it."

"Good." Greed said with an evil grin. "Then I get to kill both of you."

"By all means, inflict severe injuries on them." Wrath said. "But kill either one and I'll kill you."

"Fare enough." Greed said as he loosened his tie and threw his blazer the ground. Greed's powers were very similar to Wuyas. He mostly used physical attacks that were enhanced by the neon green aura surrounding his body. Greed summoned his Sins power and his hands became engulfed in the neon Greed flame, but something else happened as well. He seemed to enjoy this power more than the other Sins. He closed his eyes and started to chuckle mildly. This chuckling quickly grew into a laugh which became hysterical just as quickly. He lifted one hand and pointed at Guan and Jermaine as his eyes snapped open, revealing that they now glowed green with his evil. "**NOW DIE!**"

Greed vanished with the wind and instantly reappeared behind Guan and Jermaine. He then slammed his fists into both of their backs, sending them flying forward. Before they had even hit the ground, Greed vanished and reappeared again, this time he appeared in front of the two with open hand so that he could grabbed them by their heads and throw them into the air. Again, he vanished and reappeared above them in the air this time. When Guan and Jermaine were just below his feet he shouted, "**I'LL CRUSH YOU!**" and slammed his feet into their backs, sending them plummeting down and crashing into the ground below.

Greed slowly descended back to the ground, laughing devilishly the whole way. "You like that?" he asked. "That's my berserker power. It doesn't last long and I can't use it too often, but it's strong enough to get any opponent to their knees almost instantly."

"Is that… erg… so?" Guan asked as he struggled back to his feet. "You can't… ack… use it again, can you?" Greed nodded. "Well… it's a… good thing that… I snatched… this from the Xiaolin Temple… before I came here." Guan reached behind his back and pulled out from seemingly nowhere a small gold and green box with a silver pad lock on it. He muttered something quickly and the pad lock fell to the ground. He then opened the box, reached in, and pulled out two yellow tablets. He popped one of the tablets into his mouth and swallowed it. He then tossed the second tablet to Jermaine. "It's a pill from the Chiyu Box." He called to Jermaine. "It's the healing Shen Gong Wu."

Jermaine swallowed the pill, grimacing afterwards, but it proved to heal him completely and instantly. "Tastes like motor oil." He complained. "Now, I believe it's my turn to kick some ass."

"Save some for me." Guan agreed.

"I think not." Guan looked over to where Wuya, Wrath and the cloaked man were standing to find the oracle walking towards him. "Your fight, Guan, is we me, old friend."

Greed and Jermaine charged at each other, Greed's hands glowing his Sins power and Jermaine armed only with what martial arts he knew. Greed made the first attack, swinging recklessly for a punch in his nervousness, giving Jermaine plenty of room to duck under and ram his head into Greed's stomach. Greed stumbled back, clutching his gut in pain. Jermaine then jumped up and round house kicked him in the face, sending him to the ground. Those three hits were enough for Greed to completely snap. The Sin jumped back to his feet and rushed at Jermaine, screaming at the top of his lungs. Jermaine braised himself and managed to catch both of Greed's fists in his hands. He didn't have much time to think of a plan. The aura surrounding Greed's hands was starting to burn like hell, it probably would leave burn marks on his palms if he didn't let go soon. Thinking quickly, Jermaine dropped down to the ground and swung his leg undo Greed's feet, knocking them out from underneath him. He then raised one knee up high enough so that Greed's face slammed right into it, knocking him unconscious.

Jermaine didn't have time to celebrate. For as soon as he'd gotten back to his feet and turned around he found himself looking directly into the face of the Sin of Lust. "Forget about me?" she asked. Jermaine, paralyzed by Wuyas beauty, couldn't even defend himself as Wuya knocked him out with a single attack.

Guan and the oracle were having an epic battle and the Oracle had yet to even attack. Guan kept throwing punch after punch and kick after kick and he had yet to land a single blow.

Guan jumped back, putting some distance between himself and the oracle. "It appears this isn't going to be easy." He said.

"What was your first clue? The fact that I can predict the future?" the oracle jeered.

"Predict this!" Guan reached behind his back again and pulled out his favorite weapon, the Spear of Guan. He rushed again, his spear clutched in both hands, and began hacking and slashing away. Still, he could not even get close to the oracle. He just kept ducking and dodging away. The oracle waited patiently for an opening. Once the opening had appeared, he easily knocked the spear away from Guan and then kicked him in the chest, knocking him to the ground.

"You forget, Guan, not only can I predict the future, but I know your fighting style better than anyone alive."

"… It can't be…" Guan muttered.

"Oh, but it is." The oracle pulled back one of his sleeves to reveal that his hand was surrounded by a purple aura. "It is." He muttered as he pointed his glowing hand at Guan. "Hand of Hades!"

* * *

(a/n) ah, yes. another one of my famous cliffhangers. now onto a more serious note. for those of you who are making the wrong assumptions about Julias homosexuality, turst me, this story is going to stay T rated. if anything, Julias love life will be more censored than anyone elses. and now that Ive gotten that out of the way, onto the next big question: who is the oracle? lets see if anyone can figure it out. 


	13. Chapter 13: the Quarterfinals

Chapter 13: The Quarterfinals

"Ladies and Gentlemen," the announcer shouted into his microphone. "Are you ready to get another cheep thrill out of watching these nice people kick the snot out of each other?" the crowd roared with excitement as the remaining eight contestants stepped into their appointed arenas.

"Again with the nice stuff." Greed chuckled quietly.

"Well all right!" the announcer called. "Then let's get going! In arena number one we have the South African master of Martial Arts, Rush going up against the Rodent from who knows where, Hamster! In arena number two, we have the world's only real Kung Fu cowboy, Clay fighting against his long time friend, the Brazilian badass, Raimundo! In arena number three we have two Sins in the flesh, the beautiful Miss Lust and her opponent, Greed! And finally, in arena number four, we have the midget monk, Omi, fighting against a self proclaimed genius, Jack!"

"Midget monk?" Omi asked, annoyed.

"What do you mean 'self proclaimed'?" Jack demanded. "I've got papers proving my IQ back home!"

While the announcer went on with his rant and the remaining fighters prepared for their matches, the already eliminated fighters were watching from a specially reserved box up in the stands. Kim and Saya were already arguing over whether Clay of Rai was going to win their match. Katnappe was watching from the window, quietly purring and keeping her eyes on Jack the whole time. Mimi was already cheering Omi on, even though the match hadn't even started yet. Jewel was sitting next to Mimi staring off into space, obviously deep in thought. Elena, also staring off into space deep in thought, had chosen a seat towards the back of the box closer to the door. No one had seen Jermaine or Guan all morning.

"Ok," the announcer called, "Fighters ready?... **HIT IT!**"

Most people in Rush's situation would be laughing their ass off because they were fighting a hamster. But Rush knew better. While he didn't see how it happened, he saw what Hamster had done to Guan the day before and regarded the rodent as the most dangerous of opponents. He and Hamster hadn't even started fighting yet. They were just slowly circling, waiting for the other to strike first. _What are you up to?_ Rush mentally asked himself, sarcastically answering himself,_ about three inches. _

Before Rush had even noticed, Hamster had ran up to him, somehow jumped up to eye level and jabbed the tiny claws on his paw right in between Rush's eyes. To everyone's amazement, Rush went flying back and almost flew out of the arena. _Unnatural strength, speed, and agility…_ Rush mentally noted, _there's no way this guy's is one hundred percent hamster._

Again Hamster started moving incredibly fast, this time moving in a zigzag pattern instead of straight ahead. Rush barely managed to keep his eyes on him the whole time. After three antagonizing seconds of his, Hamster once again jumped his way to eye level with Rush. This time, however, Rush was ready and quickly snatched the rodent from mid air. "How're ya gonna get outta this one?" Rush jeered. The answer was surprisingly simple. Hamster opened his jaw wide and bit down on Rush's hand, hard. Rush leg go immediately and stumbled back, falling over the edge and landing on the grass below.

Rush, still clutching his injured hand, staggered back to his feet and glared at the rodent. "That's how." Hamster said with what Rush guessed was a smile.

At the same time in arena two Rai and Clay were having a battle for the history books. Rai rode the wind as if it were a surf board, circling around Clay so fast that the Texan couldn't even keep an eye on him, let alone chuck a big rock at him. Eventually Clay lost sight of Rai completely. "Behind you." Rai reappeared right behind Clay and sent a gust of wind directly at him, expecting him to go flying. But, sweet irony, he stayed completely stationary.

"Thanks for tellin' me." Clay said sarcastically as he turned around and grabbed Rai by his arms. "You are way too easy, you know that? Ya see, while you were distracted by distractin' me, I was busy using my element to cover my boots in rock and stone. These things are so heavy that I can barely walk… you, on the other hand," Clay stopped to lift Rai over his head, getting ready to chuck him away, "Can fly easy." With that, Clay threw him, sending him straight for the stands. Thinking quickly, Rai summoned his power over wind and went with the movement he already had to begin flying. He quickly came to a halt and hovered right where he was, passed the arenas edge.

"Did you forget, Clay man? I can fly!" Rai called. The next thing he knew, a good sized though not huge rock slammed against his forehead and he blacked out. He then fell to the ground landing in the grass.

"Not while you're unconscious, partner!" Clay called back.

The fight in arena three was quick, uneventful, and could hardly be considered a fight. Lust just stood there for about five minutes with her arms crossed, shaking her head while Greed (for the first time since they'd met) just stood there and gawked at her like an idiot. "Are you serious?" she asked. "I thought that at least another Sin would be immune to my powers… all well. Just step out of the arena. I don't feel like using a lot of energy right now."

"Yes ma'am." Greed said stupidly. He then obediently walked over to the edge of the arena and jumped down, ending the match.

Fortunately, the fight in arena four was much more interesting.

Omi and Jack charged at each other. Omi had been planning to chop Jack on a pressure point around the neck to knock him out almost instantly. Ironically, and thanks to some research on the internet last night, Jack was planning to do the same thing. The both realized this too late and ended up slamming their forearms into each other, resulting in a deadlock. However, thanks to his small stature, Omi managed to duck down and sweep his leg under Jacks feet, knocking them out from underneath him. After Jack had landed on his back Omi jumped into the air, ready to strike. Jack had anticipated this, however, and managed to roll out of the way, resulting in Omi slamming his face into the ground. Taking advantage of this, Jack jumped back to his feet and then grabbed Omi by his ankle. "Ha! What now, cue ball?" he jeered once he'd brought Omi up to eye level. Omi's answer was a simple, but hilarious, spit to the face. Jack let go of his ankle and grabbed his face, trying to wipe the spit away. Omi landed perfectly balancing on his hands, then launched himself at Jack, slamming his feet into Jacks gut. Omi then went on to beat Jack farther and farther back until Jack eventually tumbled over the edge, ending the Quarterfinals.

"That's it!" the announcer shouted into the microphone. "We have all four of our quarterfinals winners! Hamster, Clay, Lust and Omi are moving on to the Semifinals!"

"Yeah, that's what I'm talking about!" Mimi shouted from her seat, even though no one could hear here through the windows of the private box (other than anyone else inside). "Way to go Omi!"

"I can't believe it…" Kim said, shocked. "… Rai actually lost…"

"I know, what a plot twist." Saya giggled. "And now you own me twenty dollars from a bet we made that wasn't mentioned anywhere in the text above."

"Don't remind me." Kim groaned.

Katnappe just shrugged and silently left the room. Julia and Elena, on the other hand, didn't even seem to realize that the fights were over. Mimi was the only one who seemed to notice this.

"Hey, Jewel, fights are over. Time to go." Mimi said.

Jewel snapped out of her trance and looked up to Mimi. "Huh, what?... oh… right… let's go." She stuttered.

"Is something wrong, Jewel?" Mimi asked. "You don't seem like your usual self today."

"It's nothing, really." Jewel insisted. "I just need some time alone is all."

Mimi looked back to where she had last seen Elena sitting. Gone. Elena had probably walked out the door right after Katnappe. "Hey, Jewel." She said quickly after turning back. Jewel was already starting towards the door, but turned back at the sound of Mimi's voice. "Would you mind coming to me and Omi's room tonight, after dinner?"

"Why?"

"You're depressed, I'm concerned. I just want to talk is all." Mimi insisted. "I'll send Omi on some meaningless errand that he won't even understand, so it'll be just the two of us, ok?" It was all Jewel could do to nod and walk away.

LATER THAT NIGHT

After dinner and celebrating Omi and Clay's victory in the tournament, everyone retired to their rooms like usual. As she'd planned, Mimi had sent Omi out to do some errand which shall remain unmentioned (a/n: mainly because I have no idea what it is XP). And just as she'd expected, Jewel came walking in through the door a few minutes after Omi had left. "Ok, let's make this quick, I've got more moping to do. So what do you want to talk about?"

"Like I said earlier, you're depressed, I'm concerned." Mimi explained. "I just want to know what's bugging you. And maybe help you out if I can. So what's up?"

Despite every brain cell she had screaming at her that it was a bad idea, Jewel sighed and sat down on the other side of the couch. "Ok, first off, let me ask you this… you know I'm gay, don't you?"

Mimi nodded. "You made it kind of obvious, to me at least, back in Mexico. But I wasn't sure until we fought Lust in that cave."

"Yeah, well, here's the thing… I told Elena last night." Jewel sighed.

"And?"

"Well, she took that part pretty well. But… It's what I told her after that that's got us both a little confused."

"And that was?..."

"Ever since Kim and I got back from 2032 I've had a serious crush on her." She blurted, so fast that it sounded like one word.

Mimi just went silent for a minute. "Whoa…" she finally said. "Didn't see that coming…"

"So yeah, that's basically it. She's confused; I'm regretting it; end of story. Can I go now?"

"Forget it." Mimi grinned. "You're not leaving here until I can get a smile out of you. And I don't care if Omi comes back or not, ya got that?"

Jewel rolled her eyes and grumbled, "Whatever." Though she was trying not to smile right then and there, just because she knew she had such caring friends.

LOCATION UNKNOWN

"So, what you're telling me is that the two you have captured already are not two of the ones we seek?" Wrath asked. He and the oracle were discussing their plans for those they've captured and those they sought to capture.

"Correct." The oracle said. "Jermaine and Guan show no trace of the Chi those we seek have. However, I am positive that at least one is present at the tournament."

Wrath nodded, pulling his cigar out of his mouth with his mechanical claw and blowing a ring of smoke from his mouth. "So, what you're saying is that Pride is going to have my hide if this tournament goes wrong. Which means you are going to have to sniff out the one that's there or else I'm going to have your hide, ya got that?"

"You're in no position to be making threats." The oracle snapped. "I could tear you in half right here if I wished it. You're lucky that Pride is paying me handsomely."

"Ok, let's get back to business." Wrath growled. "You say that at least one of them is here. And yet you have no way of determining which one it is or how many… so how exactly do we capture that one?"

"It's quite simple, you dimwitted cyborg… we take them all."

LATER THAT NIGHT

Kim growled with her pillow over her head as the sound of laughing continued to pass through the walls. It was now eleven P.M. and this constant laughing had been happening for hours now. It had been ok at first, when she and Rai had still been awake and they could just turn the TV up. But now she was trying to get some sleep and she couldn't do anything without being rude… And rude was seeming pretty good to her. _What could possibly be so funny?_ She mentally complained as she threw the covers away and pulled her head out from under her pillow.

"You can't take it either?" Rai grumbled from the other side of the bed.

"Rai, you're awake?" Kim asked.

"I doubt anyone could sleep through that." Rai complained. "Let's go see what's going on in Mimi and Omi's room." The room on the other side of the wall was where Omi and Mimi slept.

"Or we could just bang loudly on the wall." Kim suggested, no trace of sarcasm.

"Naw." Rai yawned. "I wanna see what's going on. I vaguely recognize those laughs… and I can tell that neither of them are Omi."

"Well, that throws my theory out the window." Kim mumbled.

Out in the hall Kim knocked on the door that lead into Mimi and Omi's room, rather loudly. "Mimi, what's going on in there?" she demanded.

"Seriously, "Rai added, "It's eleven and you and whoever else is in there won't shut up!"

"Kim? Rai? That you guys?" Mimi said through the door. The door opened up revealing the French red head trying to hold back a grin. "C'mon in, the party's just getting started. Hey Jewel, guess who decided to drop by!"

"Party?" Rai asked. "… Wait a minute, Jewel's here?"

"And where's Omi?" Kim asked.

"Omi?" Mimi asked. "Oh, I sent him out to do a little job for me. I thought he'd be back by now though. And yeah, Jewel's here. And boy does she have big news! Something that, unless all this caffeine is affecting my brain, you already know about, Rai."

Before Rai or Kim could even comment Jewel came walking out of the bathroom and greeted them with a cheery, "Hey guys, what's up?"

"We just wanted to know why you guys are making so much noise." Kim said. "Some of us actually like to sleep, you know."

Jewel just smiled and giggled. "Sorry guys." She said. "It's just, well, let's just say I've really got a reason to celebrate right now." Rai knew what she was talking about immediately.

"Ok, I'm confused." Kim said, annoyed.

"And I say we stick around!" Rai said enthusiastically, wrapping his arm around Kim's shoulders, "Where's the beer? Soda and other caffeinated beverages will also do just fine, thank you."

"**WOULD SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME WHAT'S GOING ONE!?!?!?**" Kim suddenly shouted. "Seriously, Mimi's acting weird, Jewel's overly happy, and Rai is asking for alcohol, which only happens when he's really happy or sarcastic, 'cause I happen to know you've never had a drink in your life, Rai. So, again, what the hell is going on?" Everyone just stood there gawking at her. _Oh, come on!_

"Ok, I'll tell you already." Jewel said, trying to hold back another smile. "Remember back in the whole Quasar Cube incident when I went to talk to my future self privately?" Kim nodded. "Well, I went in there alone to convince her… me… or, whatever, to not tell you that…"

"Oh my god, I knew it!" Kim broke in. "You're in love with Rai, aren't you?"

"No! No! It's nothing like that!" Jewel pleaded. "It's just, back then at least, I didn't want you to find out that I'm gay."

Kimiko went into silence, staring at Jewel with one eyebrow raised and her jaw hanging open slightly. "Wait a minute… so you don't like… but you're into…" she was completely baffled. "How did I not catch that?"

"So, you're ok with it?" Jewel asked.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Kim asked. "You could be a Martian for all I care, so long as you stay away from my boyfriend. And I obviously don't have to worry about that now." She chuckled. "But why're you so comfortable with telling me all of the sudden?"

"Mimi helped me out with a little therapy. Hard to believe she's not a licensed therapist."

"And people say TV rots your brain." Mimi joked, earning a laugh from everyone in the room. "Well, hard as it is to believe with all the caffeine I've had, I'm getting tired. I'm gunna catch some Zs."

"Yeah, me too." Jewel said. It's been a long day for me."

"Finally!" Rai said. "At least we'll be able to get some sleep tonight."

"I would say otherwise, but I'm still mad at you for beating me in the Preliminaries yesterday." Kim said.

"Dang it."

OUTSIDE OF THE HOTEL

"I've been going in circles for hours and I still have no idea what Mimi was talking about!" Omi complained as he angrily stomped back to the Hotel doors. "Why is it that I'm always stuck with the grunt work anyway?"

"Because you're a useless little midget that no one cares about!"

Omi froze as out from nowhere the Sins of Lust, Greed and Wrath suddenly surrounded him; Greed cracking his knuckles, Wrath aiming his machinegun arm directly at him, and Lust eyeing him suspiciously. "You know, we were going to wait until I knocked you out of the tournament tomorrow, but I think this will go much more smoothly." Wuya said.

Omi watched as all three started to charge at him. But before any of them had taken a single step, three bolts of lightning came crashing down from the sky, stopping them in their tracks. "What in the blue hell?" Wrath demanded. Right on cue, Saya jumped down from the lamp post she'd been perched on and landed beside Omi.

"Back off my little brother!" she demanded.


	14. Chapter 14: Wrath of Wrath

(a/n) I can not tell you how hard it was to finish this long of a chapter in just two days worth of typing (let's just say my wrists feel like crap right now). but still, I got it done and I have to say this is some of my best work. I have not one, not two, but three fight scenes in this chapter and I still managed to work in a lot of plot development as well as emotional and character development. and for the record, I wouln't've gotten this done nearly as fast if my sister hadn't been gone all wekkend, so thank your lucky stars for that. with all that say'd stop reading this authors note and start reading the chapter already.

* * *

Chapter 14: Wrath of Wrath

All was silent as Omi and Saya waited for Wrath, Lust, or Greed to make a move. Wuya began to laugh, starting out softly but gradually growing louder and louder. "So, this is the little brat that sent Chase Young to his grave? I must say, it's an honor to be the one to defeat you."

"Shut up, bitch!" Saya snapped. "The only one who's going to loosing today is you three! No one threatens my little brother and gets away with it."

"Really?" Wuya asked sarcastically. "Well then… I guess we'll have to make sure that no one threatens little Omi again, now won't we?... Get 'em, boys!"

On Lust's order Greed's hands surged with neon green energy and his eyes started glowing the same just before he vanished only to reappear behind Saya and slam his knuckles into her back. The claws on Wraths mechanical hand clenched together and began to spin with amazing speed. The spinning claws quickly began to glow white with heat and he then ran directly towards Omi.

Omi managed to jump out of the way just as Wraths spinning claw crashed into the ground, melting the concrete it hit. _Note to self, avoid that._ Omi mentally noted. As Wrath pulled his claw out of the ground, he quickly aimed his machine gun arm at Omi and started unloading ammo like crazy. Omi managed to jump high enough to avoid being shot, flipped back while in midair, and landed on Wrath's back then clenched both of his hands together and slammed his combined fists into the back of Wraths head. Wrath fell forward, landing on his face. Omi jumped off of his back as he hit the ground and readied himself to strike again incase Wrath got back up. A soft laughing began to sound. "Not bad kid." Wrath grumbled as he pushed himself off the ground. "If you were a lot bigger I might've been knocked out by that."

"**WHO ARE YOU CALLING A MOUSY LITTLE PIPSQUEEK?**" Omi shouted.

"Ya got a short temper too kid." Wrath boasted as he aimed his gun arm at him again.

"Shimo Staff!" Omi quickly reached into his sleeve and pulled out the small crystal stick which mutated into a large shield, blocking the rounds from Omi. Once Wrath had stopped firing, the shields changed again into a long staff with spiked maces on both ends. Omi charged with the Shimo Staff clutched in both hands and swung, slamming one end of the mace into Wraths mechanical arm with the gun. When this happened, something must have broken because electricity suddenly surged through the arm and the point where machine and Wraths muscles connected was shocked, knocking him unconscious.

Meanwhile Saya was having trouble fighting with Greed using his berserker power. Truth was that Greed was just toying with her so far, making his berserker power last much longer than when he went all out with it. But now he was getting bored. Time to end this. Greed summoned his energy to teleport in front of Saya, blocking her path. Saya had been expecting this, however, and had a surge of electricity ready to throw at him. Greed remained stationary and simply knocked the energy ball away with his arm. Greed, deciding to save the rest of his berserker power for later, reverted back to his normal form. "Now that wasn't very nice." He chuckled. "You forget, little girl, we're not trying to kill you. So, in turn, there's no reason for you to use lethal force either."

"Says you!" Saya yelled as she threw another ball of energy at him. Greed simply teleported out of the way, reappearing directly in front of Saya.

Greed flashed a devilish grin at Saya and then grabbed her by the chin, lifting her face up slightly as if to examine it. "You're not half bad looking… maybe you should ditch that hick of a boyfriend of yours and start hanging out with me."

That tore it. Saya summoned every ounce of strength she had and focused all of her energy into her hands. She then slammed her palms against Greeds stomach, sending electricity coursing through his body and knocking him unconscious. "Call Clay a hick again and I'll do more than just knock you out." she spat.

As the two siblings finished their battles, they both turned to Wuya, who hadn't so much as moved since Greed and Wrath started. "It's two against one now, Wuya. I suggest you leave with your tail between your legs before you end up like them."

"I have a better plan." The Sin of Lust said confidently. "Time to even the score. Wrath, now!"

The next thing anyone knew, the sound of a gun firing went off. Not multiple rounds like before, just one shot. Omi and Saya hadn't even realized what was going before blood began to spray into the air and a body hit the ground. "Saya!" Omi shouted as he rushed to his sister's side and kneeled beside her.

"Wrath you idiot! You barely caught her by the shoulder!" Wuya shouted "You were supposed to put her in a coma!"

"Vision… hazy… can't… aim…" Wrath grumbled before disappearing with the wind to repair his arm and heal his injuries.

Wuya simply rolled her eyes and turned back to the spot where Saya lay. She saw Omi, kneeling beside his unconscious sister crying as if she were dead. The sight simply disgusted Wuya. The little monk was showing weakness all because his comrade was injured. He should be fighting recklessly to avenge her. _Reminds me of how that man looked fifteen hundred years ago. _Wuya thought. _And oh how I hate him now._ She then snapped her fingers and she, Greed, and Saya vanished without a trace, leaving behind only the battle damage to the surrounding area and the stains of Saya's blood on the concrete.

"Don't worry, kid. We'll take good care of her." Lust's voice sounded from the air.

"**NO!!!**" Omi shouted in his rage. "Bring her back, you hear me! I said bring my sister back to me!" No response. Only the sound of leaves rustling in the breeze. "Fine! But remember this, Wuya! When we meet in the arena tomorrow… I will kill you. The same goes for you, Wrath and Greed!"

LOCATION UNKNOWN

After a quick pit stop to heal up Lust, Greed, and Wrath appeared in a cold and dark place where they'd been scheming. It was just a single, circular room. The walls were lined with about twenty large capsule-like things. "Throw her in the pod next to the African kid." Lust ordered.

"Shouldn't we remove the bullet and clean her wound first?" Wrath suggested. "Pride ordered us to keep them alive after all."

"Fine whatever." Lust said. "Greed you're on inventory."

Greed rolled his eyes and went over to the closest pod to him before moving around the room to look inside each one. "Let's see." He mumbled. "Master Monk Guan, black kid number one, Chinese girl, Spanish girl, Jack Spicer, creepy cat girl and black kid number two. We got seven now."

"And the oracle says we still haven't found them all, though we have captured at least one. I just don't get why he won't tell us who they are so we don't have to go through all of this."

"Maybe he can't." Wrath suggested as he carefully placed Saya's unconscious body in one of the empty pods. "Maybe he can only sense if the energy of the ones we seek is in the area, and he can't tell where it's coming from."

"That's absurd!" Greed said.

"Not as much as you might think, my half witted friend." Wuya said.

"So, what do we do now?" Wrath asked.

"Simple." Wuya said. "After that Rodent and the Texan fight it out tomorrow, the loser will join the other losers that we haven't captured in their private box. Once he has joined the other four, Greed with knock them out and bring them all here. Then I will defeat little Omi in our match and bring him here as well. Then, once I defeat the other competitor in the finals, we will have nothing left to worry about and we can move on with whatever Pride has planned."

THE NEXT DAY

Eleven thirty AM… just a half hour before the semifinals of the tournament began. Today the last three matches would be fought and a champion would be crowned. Despite the decent amount of time he had, Clay was already making his way down to the arena, figuring that he'd take a quick nap right next to the entrance to the arenas, saving all of his energy for his fight. From what he'd seen already, he'd need all the strength he had to beat that Hamster Character.

"Headed down early, are we?" Clay glanced around quickly to find who the squeaky voice had come from. "Down here." Clay looked down to his feet to find the rodent in Xiaolin robes standing a few feet away.

"Well, if it ain't my next opponent." Clay said. "Nice to finally speak to ya, sir."

"This is no time for formalities, Clay. We have a serious matter to attend to." Hamster interrupted. "I'm going to cut right to the point. I want you to throw our match."

"And what makes you think I'll be doin' that?" Clay asked.

"There's more going on here than you know." Hamster said. "It's not just a coincidence that you happen to know most of the competitors, or that Greed and Lust are here as well. It's all one big set up… I can feel it in the air; something is going to happen after the final match. I believe I may be the only one able to stop whatever it is."

"Yeah, nice try, Hammy." Clay chuckled. "You and me are gunna duke it out and you're gunna have to beat me fare and square."

"Haven't noticed that Guan and Jermaine have been missing since yesterday? Or that Jack Spicer and Katnappe haven't shown their faces since after the Quarterfinals? Didn't you find it suspicious that Saya was gone when you woke up this morning?"

"How'd you know…"

"I know many things. But the question is, do you trust what I know?"

Clay kneeled down and held his hand out to Hamster who in turn jumped into his palm. Clay the n stood back up and asked, "So what exactly do you know?"

HALF AN HOUR LATER

"All right ladies and Gentlemen! Are you ready for the final day of the World Fighter Tournament?" the announcer called into his microphone. The crowd roared with excitement as they watched the remaining fighters step into the arena area. "Well all right! Then let's get started already! In round one of the Semifinals we have the Rodent from parts unknown, Hamster!" The crowd cheered as Hamster quickly jumped into the arena (all four of which had been pushed together over night to make one huge ring). "And He is fighting against the worlds only real Kung Fu cowboy, Clay Bailey!" again, the crowd cheered, but it quickly became silent again as Clay never made his way into the arena, or into view for that matter. "Would Clay Bailey please step into the arena, please?" the announcer asked. At that point, someone came running up to him, whispered something into his ear, and ran away. "Attention, everyone, I'm just as bummed about this as you are, but I've just received confirmation from our officials that Clay Bailey has withdrawn from the match… Which means Hamster wins by default!" The crowd remained silent. There was a cricket chirping somewhere in the background. "Right, so let's move on. In round two, we have the mistress of seduction herself, guys you know who I'm talking about, let's bring out Lust!" The crowd renewed their excitement as the scantily clad woman with long auburn hair made her way into the ring, quietly chuckling to herself as she watched almost every man in the stands start to drool over her. "And the lucky bastard that's fighting against her, he's small but fierce, let's give it up for Omi!"

"**WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SMALL YOU WANT TO CRUSH LIKE AN ANT!?!?**" Omi shouted.

The announcer pulled the microphone away from his face and turned to Omi. "I didn't say anything like that, kid. Now get in the ring or forfeit."

Omi shook his head after remembering what had happened the night before and then made his way into the ring, hatred rising like a fire within him as soon as he laid eyes on the Sin of Lust.

"Sorry we couldn't finish up last night, kiddo." Wuya said. "Greed, Wrath and I had other things to do."

"Where is Saya?" Omi demanded.

"I don't see why you are so concerned over that one girl." Wuya chuckled. "Especially since we've captured over half of the rest of your team as well. In fact, Greed is probably taking care of the rest of them right now."

"**WHAT?**"

"That's right. We've been picking off the losers one by one ever since this tournament began."

"Tell me where they are, right now!"

"Why should I?"

"Because if you do… then you'll live to see another day."

All Wuya did was laugh. "Oh please! Were it not for Pride's direct orders you would all be dead by now and I wouldn't even bee here."

There argument was cut short there, as the announcer had decided it was time to begin the fight. "Fighters ready?... **HIT IT!**"

Instantly, Wuya vanished from sight and reappeared behind Omi. Her hands became engulfed in neon green energy as she readied herself to slash at Omi's back. Omi, however, managed to duck down and sweep his leg under Wuya's feet. Wuya teleported away before she could hit the ground and reappeared on her feet a few yards away. Omi jumped into the air, heading straight for Wuya, and kicked her across the face. Wuya stumbled back as Omi landed. Omi then swung around and slammed his head into her stomach, knocking the wind out of her. He then punched her in the knee, making her loose her balance and fall over, and then he elbowed her in the face, sending her flying, landing and coming to s stop just before the arena's edge.

"How are you doing this?" Wuya demanded as she spat some blood to the ground. "You should be drooling over me like those idiots in the stands!"

"Obviously you know nothing of love or compassion." Omi said as he slowly made his way over to her. "You shoot my sister and capture my team mates and friends and you expect me to treat you like a queen? I have no reason to Lust after you… because even if I had reason to, I would never lust after something that isn't even human."

"Kid, you really need to learn when to shut up." Wuya jeered. The next thing he knew, Wuya clapped her hands together and a wave of green energy came rushing at Omi.

Omi had suspected nothing less and simply jumped over it.

"Now I'm going to make sure you never hurt anyone again." With that, Omi began his preparations. He closed his eyes, made a fist with one hand, and wrapped his other hand around his fist. Slowly chi began to surge throughout his body, it felt as if he were standing waist deep in a pool full of close water. When at last he had gathered all the chi he needed, he released the fiercest attack he'd ever used. "Water Style: Waves of Sono Mizu Kami!" the chi within Omi suddenly released itself from his body and rushed straight for Wuya, taking the physical form of water as it rushed through the air. Wuya was helpless to protect herself as the water crashed into her, knocking her unconscious and sending her flying out of the arena."

"And that's it! In a spectacular finish Omi has royally kicked Lust's ass into the next country! Let's hear it for Omi!"

Omi paid no attention to the announcer or the cheering of the crowd. As soon as it was announced that he had won, he ran out of the arena to go search for his friends. He didn't care that his next match could start at any minute; Hamster could win for all he cared. He just wanted to find his friends and go home.

"Where do you think you're going, kid?"

Omi stopped running and swung around to find Wrath standing in the middle of the arena glaring down at him. "You're not done fighting yet."

"Hamster can have the match!" Omi shouted. "I'm going to find my friends and get the hell out of here!"

"You don't get it, kid." Wrath said. "You're not fighting the rodent. You and him are teaming up to fight me."

"And what makes you think we will agree to that?" Hamster asked as he appeared next to Omi. "What warrant do you have to force us to fight?"

"Well, considering that you are both registered combatants in **my** tournament and **I** happen to won every inch of this estate, you have no choice. And just for a little reassurance, if you don't fight me, I'll kill everyone within ten miles of this place."

Omi gritted his teeth and glared at the Sin of Wrath. What was he to do? If he didn't fight everyone within a ten mile radius would die, but if he did there's no telling what would happen to his friends. It was a no win situation. "Omi." He looked down to Hamster. "I know you are worried about your friends, but if you go after then they will die along with many others. You and I are going to fight this behemoth and we are going to win. And don't worry about the others; I've already got someone on the job." Despite everything he thought, Omi agreed and the two marched into the arena one last time.

"Excellent." Wrath said. "Now let's begin. It's the final match of the World Fight Tournament. The best of the best against the ultimate fighting machine, the Sin of Wrath! No rules, no restrictions… no holding back!"

Instantly, Wrath took aim with his machine gun arm and started unloading ammo at Omi and Hamster. Omi managed to dive out of the way but Hamster, as small of a target as he was, remained stationary and didn't get hit. Almost as quickly as he'd begun, Wrath stopped firing and went after Omi, managing to grab a hold of him with his claw. "I'm going to enjoy squeezing the life out of you." He laughed as he slowly tightened his grip."

"You forget you have two opponents." Out of nowhere, Hamster appeared and slammed one of his back paws into Wraths face with amazing force. Wrath unclenched Omi and fell over, his mechanical arm loudly clanging against the concrete. Before Hamster of Omi could make another move Wrath started shooting again to drive them away. _I think it's time for an upgrade._ Wrath stopped firing and raised his machine gun arm into the air. As he did, the three gun barrels separated and retracted into the machinery. Transformations such as this continued for a few seconds until Wrath's arm resembled that of a cannon.

"Now you die!" Wrath quickly took aim again and from his new cannon arm he shot a neon green energy bomb directly at his two opponents. They both managed to jump out of the way, but not without witnessing the destructive power of Wrath's upgrade. As soon as the energy came in contact with the concrete ground it exploded, blinding light erupting from the point of impact. When the light faded the energy bomb was gone along with a good chunk of the arena. "Wouldn't want to get hit with one of these, now would ya?" Wrath boasted before taking three more shots. Omi somehow managed to dodge all three shots while still running straight at Wrath. Once close enough, he jumped at him and slammed his feet into his chest, knocking him onto his back. Omi then grabbed Wrath by the front of his vest and started punching him across the face.

"This is for calling me short! This is for kidnapping my friends! And this is for shooting my sister!" that last punch must have triggered something deep within Wrath's subconscious, for at that moment his body erupted with the neon green chi energy of the Sins and Omi was sent flying.

"Like Lust said, kid, "Wrath said, his eyes now glowing neon green, "You really need to learn when to **shut the hell up!**"

"As do you." As he usually did, Hamster appeared out of nowhere and jabbed his front paw into Wraths neck. Wrath stumbled back as he choked. Hamster took advantage of his and attacked his ankles, causing Wrath to drop to his knees.

"That's it. I am done toying around!" Wrath yelled. He raised his cannon arm into the air again and began to collect chi energy within the barrel. "This blast will take out the entire arena. You will both die and I will live because of my powers." Wrath explained. "I hope you're both ready to meet your makers. Now get ready for Armageddon's right arm! Blast of Wrath!" Wrath lowered his arm and launched his blast as soon as his aim was level. The light went everywhere, blinding anyone who looked directly into it. Wrath laughed in his triumph as his blast engulfed the midget and the rodent he was fighting. Surely that was the end of them.

"**SPHERE OF YUN!**"

"What?" Wrath shouted as the light cleared and the dim image of a large sphere with two short figures inside slowly came into view. "But how can this be? That should've incinerated the both of you!"

Omi and Hamster, who were just as confused as Wrath was, began looking around to find the cause of the sphere. "This is the sphere of Yun." Omi pointed out. "I thought we left all Shen Gong Wu at the temple. How is protecting us then?"

"Hey Omi!" Omi looked over to the stands, which were now almost completely empty. Only a small group of twelve remained in the front row. Omi sighed with relief when he realized that the twelve he saw were his friends, Jack Spicer and Katnappe. "Omi dawg!" Jermaine called. "Kick this guy's ass already so we can get goin'!"

"Yeah, li'l partner!" Clay called. He was holding a still unconscious Saya in his arms. "This has been dragged out longer than a cattle drive from New York to Texas!"

Rai and Kim just rolled their eyes. "What they're trying to say is," they both said at the same time. Those two were then joined by everyone else (excluding Jack and Katnappe) to finish. "You can beat him!" they all called. "We know you can."

Omi smiled and nodded at them. Mimi then held up the Sphere of Yun and deactivated it so that Omi and Hamster could move around. "I believe that my work here is done." Hamster said. "I assume you can handle him from here. I'll be taking my leave." With that the little hamster man quickly jumped away and vanished over the edge of what remained of the arena.

Omi then turned back to Wrath who was still sitting on his knees staring at Omi in shock that his last attack hadn't worked. "You put up a good fight, Sin of Wrath. But now it is time to end it."

"Indeed it is."

Lightning suddenly crashed down from the sky and from the light appeared a man. He was a tall broad shouldered man who wore a strange black metal helmet in the shape of an eagle's head which covered most of his face. He wore iron plates covered with bone spikes over his shoulders as well. His clothes consisted of a black shirt and sash with the seven pointed star of the sins and another symbol of a gray and white flame and a pair of red pants. His had a single long braid of light brown hair jetting out of the back of his helmet and a short goatee on his chin. "Consider yourselves very lucky today." He said. "I assure you that Wrath and Lust's punishments will be just. As for Greed, well, he hasn't really messed up yet now has he?"

"Wait! What's going on? Who are you?" Omi demanded.

The man simply glared down at Omi before saying, "I am Pride," and snapping his fingers, disappearing with Wrath and Lust along with him.

* * *

(a/n) finally I managed to have Pride reveal himself to the monks (spooky music). I can't tell you how long I've been wanting to do that. anyway, this officially ends the tournament story arch and I'm going to move on with the story from here to something I've given the code name "harem". what it really is youll have to wait and find out. also, just for the record, I will explain what all happens after this chapter in the next. I just ended it where I did because its late and I have school tomorrow. prepare to see a completely new side of wrath (more spooky music). so yeah, thats about it. until next then, this is Ojex, trying to think of something sarcastic to say. 


	15. Chapter 15: Born Anew

Chapter 15: Born Anew

The tournament was over. Hamster had disappeared, Jack had flown away in his jet (reluctantly taking Katnappe with him), and everyone else (Jermaine and Guan included) hitched a ride on Dojo's back to the Xiaolin Temple. Clay carried Saya in his arms the whole way. On the way home, Omi had to explain exactly what had happened over the past three days and so he told the story from when he and Saya had battled the Sins the night before to when he and Hamster were fighting Wrath. Guan and Jermaine said they'd heard the three Sins talking a few nights earlier with some strange cloaked man, and that they were the first to be captured. Elena said they must've taken her in her sleep for she had no memory of being captured. From there they tried to figure out what the Sins were actually up to, but gave up after five minutes or so, figuring Master Fung would help them out later. After all of that was said and done, Julia figured that now was as good a time as any to tell everyone she hadn't told already about her little secret. Clay, Rush, Dojo, Guan and Jermaine (Saya was still unconscious) all congratulated her on coming out of the closet and seemed really enthusiastic. Omi, on the other hand, didn't understand at first and Mimi, awkwardly, had to explain it to him. The whole idea seemed to freak him out a little but he congratulated her nonetheless. Elena went silent and kept her head down for the rest of the ride. By that time Dojo was diving down towards the temple where Master Fung was waiting to greet his returning students.

"Welcome home, my students." Master Fung said with a smile as Dojo landed and his passengers jumped off of his back. "I trust you had a…"

"Can't talk, Saya needs medical attention." Clay interrupted as he rushed into the temple with his girlfriend cradled in his arms.

"Oh! I had better go assist them." Master Fung said, quickly following after them.

"I'm coming too!" Omi added.

"No, Omi, you stay here with the others." Master Fung called back from the door way.

"But Master Fung, she is my sister!"

"Omi, stay here!" Master Fung snapped before turning around and vanishing into the Temples dark corridors.

Omi couldn't believe what was going on. Master Fung, the man Omi had known, trusted, and seen as a father all of his life had just turned his back on him. Why wouldn't Master Fung at least let Omi stay nearby while Saya was being treated? And even if there was a legitimate reason, then why was he letting Clay through? Something just didn't make sense. _It's probably nothing; I'm just imagining all of this conspiracy nonsense._ Omi reassured himself.

"Omi dawg, that was your sister?" Jermaine asked after sneaking up behind Omi. Omi simply nodded. "Man why am I always the last to hear about these things." Jermaine complained. "I thought you were an only child."

"Her family adopted me a long time ago, before I came here as a child." Omi explained. "That was shortly before our parents were killed in a car crash and we were sent here. Before I was old enough to even remember her, she'd already gotten very far in her training and left to find her wudai weapon. I never knew she existed until about a year ago."

"Dang, Omi… that's gotta be tough." Jermaine said sympathetically.

"Indeed it is, my friend. Indeed it is… So, what will you and Master Monk Guan be doing now? I assume you won't be hanging around here for very long."

"Well, I don't know about Guan…" Jermaine started, "But yeah, I'll probably have Dojo fly me home tomorrow, gotta tell my parents about the tournament and all that. But I think I'll leave out the part about the crazy people calling themselves Sins."

"Good plan." Omi said with a forced grin, his mind still on other things.

LATER THAT NIGHT

The remainder of the day was quiet for the most part. Most everyone went straight to their rooms and fell asleep as soon as the hit the pillow, even though there were still quite a few hours of daylight out. There were a few exceptions, however. Guan had already left to return to his temple. Omi and stopped by the medical wing a few times to check up on Saya and thankfully Saya was conscious and allowed visitors. She, Omi and Clay sat around and talked for a while. Saya even claimed that this wasn't the first time she'd been shot. All Omi and Clay could say to that was, "Bull." Eventually Master Fung came back and said that Saya needed rest and Omi and Clay were forced to leave.

The one other exception to everyone sleeping throughout the day was a certain Spanish brunet hiding in a tree thinking over certain events from over the past few days. Amazing, really, how just a few words can completely change a person. Elena didn't care at all when Julia had told her that she was gay. Elena and Jewel were best friends and nothing was going to change that. But when Jewel told her that she liked her, it just seemed weird. She'd been thinking it over as much as she could for that past few days but she still couldn't come to a conclusion on how she felt about this at all. It was almost like she had two people inside her telling her to do two completely opposite things and she didn't know which one to listen to. If she listened to one she might give Jewel a chance and see what it would be like to actually date her for a while. But if she listened to the other she could remain the way she always was. "But why am I even asking myself these questions?" Elena mumbled to herself. "I've always been completely heterosexual. I've had plenty of boyfriends…" _None of which you chose. All those dates were set up by your friends._ She subconsciously reminded herself. "But, there was that one guy that I almost lost my virginity to…" _Key word, 'almost'._ "Ugh… what should I do?"

"Having trouble with a potentially life changing decision, eh Elena?"

Elena glanced up to find Rush sitting a few branches up in the same tree as she was. "Rush! How long have you been up there?"

"About two seconds, but that's not the point." Rush said before jumping down and landing on the branch next to hers. "The point is that I've picked up on something before Mimi for once and it's my turn to the shrink this time. I'm probably wrong, but still, I beat her to the therapy session… so anyway, mind telling me what's up?"

Elena sighed and nodded. "Promise you won't tell any of the others?" she asked.

"You know it." Rush agreed with a smile.

"Ok, well, one the way home we all found out that Julia is gay, right? Well, the thing is, she told me two nights ago. But that's not all she told me. She also said that… that she has a crush on… on me. And honestly I don't know what to do… part of me says that I might actually like the idea of being with her… but another part of me says I am straight and that's the way I should be. So, you got any advice, Dr. numb-skull?"

"Two things." Rush said. "One, my IQ is way higher than yours, so watch your tongue. And Two… normally… or at least in our case, people do things because they think it will make other people happy or that is good for others. This isn't one of those situations. You need to do what you think is right for you. No matter what you choose to do, I'm sure Jewel will be ok with it. She's strong and all that. If you dinghy her she'll just find some other chick to make out with in town or something. But if you say yes to her, she'll more than likely be overjoyed. But like I said, this isn't something you're deciding to do for her. This is for you. Why don't you do what you think will make you happy."

Elena couldn't believe what Rush had just said. Was this the same perverted, violence loving snob that listens to loud rock music and makes sarcastic remarks day in and day out? This Rush actually sounded smart, poetic even. "Rush, did you really make that up off the top of your head?" Elena asked.

Rush looked at her, confused, and thought about it for a moment. "Huh… I guess I did. I kind of know a thing or two about doing things for yourself… and for people you love at the same time, even if you only love that person as a friend." Rush looked up to the stars through the leaves as he looked back to his days in Africa.

"Well, thanks, Rush." Elena said, giving him a quick hug before jumping down from the tree. "You really helped me out tonight."

Rush jumped down after her. "Good, 'cause I've got nothing else up my sleeve. I don't know how Mimi does this all the time. I'm going to bed. Insomnia finally wore off."

"Insomnia? That's the only reason you were helping me tonight?" Elena snapped.

"N-no! I said… In-zomb-nia… I WILL EAT YOUR BRAINS!" with that, the two of them went running back to the temple, completely happy with everything that had happened that night and ready to hit the hay.

JACKS BASEMENT

Jack growled and rubbed his temple as he tried to concentrate on the robot he was working on. Normally he would've had it finished by now, but a certain someone leaning over his shoulder trying to figure out what he was doing was annoying him to no end. Why exactly hadn't Katnappe left yet anyway? Normally she couldn't stand to be within the same country as him, much less the same room. But then again… Jacks thoughts drifted back to his first match in the tournament where he'd fought Katnappe. The fight where she'd kissed him. Why exactly did she do that? And a better question was why did he care? If he was interpreting what had happened between him and Nina correctly, then he already had a girlfriend. Katnappe should mean nothing to him other than a creepy rival. "Hey, Ashley, is there a reason why you're hovering over my shoulder like that?" Jack finally asked.

"Just wanna see what you're doing." Katnappe answered simply.

"Well would you mind **BACKING OFF!!!** God! I can't concentrate with you hovering over my shoulder like that. If you're going to hang out around here for a while then read a magazine or something."

"That's not what you're mad about."

"What're you talking about?" Jack asked. "That's exactly what I'm mad about."

Katnappe shook her head. You're mad because of what I did back in Japan, while we were fighting in the tournament…"

"Hold on, hold on, let me do something real quick." Jack said. Jack hit a button on the underside of his table which suddenly made everything around him freeze in time. "Now then," Jack continued, "Ojex, if you're reading this, if you ever put me in another love triangle, especially with Katnappe, I swear I'll find a way out of this computer and I'll rip you in half! That is all." with that, Jack hit the button and everything returned back to normal. "Now what were you saying, Katnappe."

"Please Jack, if anyone should be able to call me by my real name it should be you." She said seductively, walking a little closer and purring at him afterwards.

"Hey, I already told you that I have a girlfriend already!" Jack snapped. "And trust me; you'd be surprised if she were here. She's already kicked your ass once… remember Iceland?"

"Her?" Katnappe demanded. "But she's one of those Seven Sins hell bent on doing who knows what to this world! What could you possibly see in a maniac like her?"

"Well, for one, she didn't join them by choice. She was tricked into it. And I'll find a way to get her away from them. I'll help destroy those good for nothing Sins and bring her back with me when I'm finished."

"You know, she could just be using you for some plot that their master is working up." Katnappe suggested.

No response. Jack just sat in his chair looking down at the robot on the table, this eyes hidden by the shadow cast by his hair. "Get out… get out now…" he mumbled before going back to work. Katnappe didn't feel like arguing with him. Without a word she started towards the stairs and the door. She pulled the door open slowly and turned back to him one last time before she left. He still had his back to her. Before leaving she mumbled a few words.

"Be careful"

LOCATION UNKNOWN

Wrath, Lust and Greed bowed to Pride, practically begging for mercy, as Pride, Sloth and Gluttony sat in their thrones around the room. Envy was still out on his own mission. Pride sat on his high throne, glaring down at the three failures before him with the eyes on his eagle helmet glowing blood red. Gluttony sat two chairs away from Pride, trying feebly to hold back his laugh from seeing Wrath and Lust in such pitiful states (he'd expected nothing less from that incompetent fool Greed). As for Sloth, she just looked away and stared off into space, lost in her own world. They all knew what was coming. Wrath, Lust and Greed had failed in their mission to capture the ones that the Seven Sins seek. In turn, they were to be punished severely. Wrath already knew what his punishment would be and had accepted it. Lust, having been one of the original Sins fifteen hundred years ago, knew what Pride was capable of and feared what would become of her. Greed, however, was completely oblivious and just sat there, chuckling quietly and pretending to be scared.

"You three…" Pride finally said, "Have failed me once again. I give you chance after chance and you fail me again and again! And what's worse, you let our prisoner escape! This is unacceptable! Do you have anything to say for yourselves?" he demanded.

"Please forgive us, Lord Pride!" Wuya pleaded. "Give us one last chance! We will not fail you again!"

"Oh yes, Great Lord Pride!" Greed said sarcastically. "Please, give us one last chance!" he ended his joke with an overly enthusiastic laugh.

"Bite your tongue, boy!" Wuya whispered to him."

"I accept my punishment whatever it may be." Wrath said calmly. "May I learn a lesson for sullying the name of the Seven Deadly Sins."

Pride continued to silently glare down at them as the glowing eyes on his helmet slowly died down. "Greed, your job was simple. You were to get as far in the tournament as you possibly could and then guard your captives once you were inevitably eliminated. But as soon as Lust and Wrath were out of sight, you neglected your duties and the Texan got passed with without so much as batting an eyelash. I can not condone napping on the job. Further more…"

"Oh, bite me, you old crone!" Greed shouted. Everyone (with the exception of Pride himself) turned to him in complete shock. He had actually talked back to their all mighty leader. "You think I'm scared of you? You think that, just because you gave me these powers, that I think you're better than me? Well, like I said, bite me! 'Cause you're not doing anything to me without a fight. Like you can do much more than turn me into a frog anyway."

Prides eyes instantly went blood red. Not the eyes on his helmet like usual, his real eyes, visible under his helmet only by the glowing. Pride vanished from his throne and reappeared in front of Greed, grabbing him by the throat and lifting him into the air. "Turn you into a Frog?" Pride asked as Greed choked. "Oh, I can do much, much worse than that. And you are going to witness it first hand." Pride tightened his grip on Greed's throat and his choking became louder and louder. Prides choking had slowly began to give off a neon green aura and Greed's flesh slowly began to turn dark gray, starting from his throat and spreading from there. Eventually, the choking sounds stopped and Greed's body fell limp, now completely gray and the eyes sockets empty. A sudden gust of wind seemed to come from nowhere and Greed's body blew away, scattering into dust. "Would anyone else like to speak out against me?" Pride asked. Complete silence. "Good."

Pride teleported back to his throne and continued. "Lust, you… I am going to give one last chance. If my information is correct, then you and Wrath made an agreement that should the unlikely event of your loosing come along, Wrath would step in and take out the remaining competitors. Therefore, you have not done anything wrong. But I warn you, fail me again and Greed's fate shall be yours."

"Yes, Lord Pride. You are very merciful, thank you." Wuya said before vanishing.

"And as for you, Wrath." Pride went on, "You had little part in this what so ever. Simply organize the tournament, fight along side Lust and Greed from time to time, and fight in Lust's place if need be. And as far as your shooting the Chinese girl goes, I oppose what Lust says. What you did endangered her life, which we can not afford to loose. I gave specific orders to keep all captives alive. Do you remember what I said would happed to you if you failed me?"

"Yes, Lord Pride." Wrath said. "And I accept my punishment… I deserve no less for failing you."

Pride nodded and lifted his hand, pointing his palm directly at Wrath as the green aura began to manifest. "Then let your body be cast in iron and your soul sent below. May the afterlife be merciful to you."

Wraths body began to lift into the air, his cigar dropping to the ground, and his limbs spread apart. Slowly, the metal of his robotic arms began to spread to the rest of his body. The metallic slime slithered over his shoulders and vest first then moved onto his torso and chest. It then spread over his pants, boots and legs. And finally it spread over his neck and up to his head, his hair spiking up and turning into a chrome color instantly and the rest of the metallic slime slowly encasing his face. When it had finished Wrath was lowered to the ground and hid limbs fell back down, allowing him to stand. His arms fell limp and his head hung down.

"Is he dead?" Gluttony asked in confusion.

"Hardly." Sloth said.

Suddenly, Wraths head lifted itself up revealing a perfect metallic replica of his face complete with glowing red eyes. He lifted his arms up and looked down to his claw hand and then to his (now permanent) cannon arm. He then looked down to the floor o find the cigar he'd been smocking only minutes ago. With one swift movement he lifted his leg and slammed it down on the cigar, letting a metallic noise ring throughout the room.

"Now, tell me who you are." Pride ordered.

"I am the Sin of Wrath." Wrath said emotionlessly, his lips not moving, only a computerized voice coming from his body and his eyes flashing with each syllable. "I am loyal to the Sin of Pride and his leading General, second in command of the Seven Deadly Sins."

Pride smiled and the eyes on his helmet began to glow again. "Good."

* * *

(a/n) I know, not a lot happens in this chapter, but trust me, the ending is essential to future chapters. and yes, Greed is dead. I really didn't have any plans for him so I felt I should get him out of the way. But don't worry, this wont be the last you see of the Sin of Greed (huge spoilers right there) but how Greed will appear in the future youll have to wait and see. um... yeah, thats really all I have to say this time... Oh! one more thing. who thinks that the new version of Wrath is going to be a lot more bad ass than the last (thats going to be a challenge). later. 


	16. Chapter 16: Raven and Revenge P1

Chapter 16: Raven and Revenge Part 1

Omi, Mimi, Kim, Rai, Elena, Rush, Clay, and Jewel came slumping into the temple kitchen after returning from a Shen Gong Wu hunt. Saya had reluctantly stayed behind for this one due to her injuries. Jermaine and Guan had already gone home a few days earlier, explaining their absence. The eight other monks had gone somewhere in western China to retrieve a Shen Gong Wu called the Lily Pad Geta: a pair of traditional wooden sandals that allowed the user to walk on water. Needless to say that things hadn't gone well. Long story short, Jack got the Wu rather easily and all four male members of the team ended up hanging from a tree by their underwear.

"If I ever get another wedgy again it'll be too soon." Rai complained as he sat down at the table.

"I second that motion." Clay said as he sat across the table from Rai.

"Third." Omi agreed.

"Fourth." Rush also agreed.

"Oh, we have to tell Saya about this." Kim whispered to Mimi who giggled in agreement as the two both sat down next to their boyfriends. As everyone got settled in, mostly grabbing a snack and taking a seat at the table, everyone failed to notice that Master Fung had walked into the room with a mysterious figure standing behind him. The person behind him was a girl with black skin of about fifteen years old. Her hair was long and reached down to her mid-back, even though it was tied back into a pony tail. She wore a plain white tank top with a black leather jacket over it and a pair of jeans with multiple, and intentional, cuts and tears throughout the legs.

Master Fung cleared his throat and everyone at the table turned their attention to him immediately. "Rush, I believe you have a visitor here to see you." He said as he stepped aside to reveal the girl.

Rush's eyes bulged and his jaw dropped as soon as he saw the girl. "Now way!" he said in astonishment as he got up and made his way over to her. _Figures that a ghost from my past comes back to haunt me. _He mentally complained. "What are you doing here?" he asked. "How did you find me? I didn't tell anyone I was coming here." The girl just gave him a stern look and Rush suddenly became embraced. "Sorry, it's been so long after all. C'mon. I think I have something that can help." With that, Rush grabbed her hand and they ran off towards the vault.

Everyone else just sat where they were in confusion while Master Fung just stood by the doorway smiling. Finally Kimiko couldn't stand the silence and said something. "What was that all about? She just walks into the room, Rush goes crazy, and she doesn't even say a word. Anyone else find this strange?"

"I believe that that young lady was mute." Master Fung explained. "Unable to speak for one reason or another."

"Then how'd you know she was looking for Rush?" Clay asked.

"Are you questioning Master Fung?" the old man snapped, giving Clay a glare of pure evil with one eye. Clay responded by diving under the table, curling up into a fetal position and whimpering like a sad puppy.

"I'm guessing you know her name too." Rai said sarcastically.

"I can not pronounce her real name, but she likes being called Raven from what I can gather." Master Fung explained. "Now then, I expect that none of you have any problems with Raven staying here for a few days until she can book a flight home?" No objections. "Good. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm old and need my sleep."

THE VAULT

Rush lead his friend, the mute girl named Raven, down through the Shen Gong Wu vault as he searched each drawer for the specific Wu he was looking for. He grumbled to himself that someone should chisel labels into these things. Raven just followed him around, watching him in confusion as he rummaged through the drawers one at a time. From the way she was just standing there and the look on her face Rush seemed to notice that she was confused. "Don't worry." He said. "I'm almost done here, and trust me it'll be worth it once I'm finished. Now where's that damn shell."

Who knows how long Rushed searched the vault before giving up. "Dang, Mimi must've taken the conch for more late night mind reading…" he complained. He turned to Raven who was standing a few steps up from him and was smiling sympathetically. "Sorry, I guess I was wrong." Raven simply shrugged, grabbed Rush's hand and led him out of the vault. The two of them walked around the temple grounds for a while, silently enjoying each others company for the first time since Rush came to the temple. It felt good to Rush to be able to see his old friend again, but something kept tugging at the back of him mind. At one point, while the two were walking down some random hallway, Rush finally figured out what was bothering him. "So, why exactly are you here?" he asked. "You know you could get in serious trouble if they find out you've left.

Raven looked over to him, a look of remorse crossing her face, and then turned away while lowering her head in shame. "Wait, you mean…" Rush asked. Raven just nodded. "But… why? You didn't…" Raven shook her head and looked back at Rush. The look in her eyes said it all. "You mean… they did the same to you because of what I did?" she nodded.

Rush clenched his hand into a fist and slammed it against the wall in his rage. "**THAT'S NOT RIGHT!**" he shouted, not caring who heard him. "C'mon! We're going to fix this… Dojo!"

Right on cue, the little serpent like dragon came slithering out of a doorway and into the hall. "What is it?" he complained. "I was just about to fall asleep!"

"You're gunna fly us somewhere, now!" Rush ordered.

Dojo just stared at him as if he'd just asked him to kill someone. "Why should I?" Dojo demanded. "It's nearly ten at night and there aren't any active Shen Gong Wu. Give me one reasonable explanation as to why I should."

As Dojo finished his sentence, Rush quickly bent down, grabbed the dragon by the neck and brought him unnecessarily close to his face. "Because," he said angrily, "If you don't someone is going to be enjoying a bowl of Lao Mang Long Soup by tomorrow morning."

Dojo was about to agree to Rush's demands, but before he could he was snatched out of Rush's hand and gently placed back on the ground. Raven glared at Rush with a disappointed look as Dojo slithered away. "What the hell!" Rush demanded. "I was going to have him take us home so I could convince them to let you return!" Raven just shook her head and crossed her arms. "What? You don't want too?" Rush asked. Raven grabbed her head and silently sighed. Rush just growled and punched the wall again, releasing his remaining rage. _This would be so much easier if she could talk._ He mentally complained. After that, Rush quickly regained his regular self and placed his hand on her shoulder, trying to comfort her as much as he could. "C'mon. I'll show you where you'll be sleeping tonight." Raven subtly smiled at him and nodded. She then followed him to the rec. room where she'd be sleeping while she stayed there.

LOCATION UNKNOWN

"Interesting." Gluttony said, rubbing one of his many chins. Pride, Gluttony, Lust and Sloth were all sitting in their conference room sitting in their own thrones and looking into a large green flame hovering in the center of the room. Wrath and Envy were both absent due to currently being out on important missions. The green flame in the center of the room acted as a monitor for the Xiaolin Temple, showing the Sins anything interesting that happened within the Temple walls.

"What so interesting about it?" Wuya questioned. "Some girl from his home town showed up at the temple and the kid had a fit about her 'not being able to go back' or something. Am I the only one out of the loop here?"

"I'm just as lost as you are." Sloth admitted.

"What's interesting, my scantily clad friend, is how the African reacted to his friends news, whatever that news may have been." Gluttony explained. "That boy seems to have a great deal of darkness within his heart… we may be able to use this to our advantage in the near future."

"And how exactly would we do that?" Wuya asked.

"That is up to Lord Pride." Gluttony said, then turning his attention to his silent master in the highest throne.

Pride sat there silently, contemplating Gluttony's words while staring at the frozen picture of Rush in the green flame. He did have a point, Rush did have a great deal of darkness about him, more than enough to use against him and the other monks. But still, there was something about the boy that made Pride reluctant to try and provoke that darkness. But what was it? What possible force on this planet could be enough to scare the leader of the most powerful organization on the face of that planet?

"We will have to test this boy." Pride finally spoke. "Lust, I believe I gave you once last chance to prove yourself before you meet a fate like that of Greed and Wrath, correct?"

"Yes, Lord Pride. That was very generous of you." Wuya said.

"I want you to devise a plan… something that will drive the team apart, something that might get the lovers to turn their backs on each other… but your ultimate goal is to test that boy… let's see how far the darkness within him reaches."

"Yes, my Lord." Wuya agreed. "I already have something in mind."

UNDERWORLD

Crowds of demons and dead spirits roared and cheered as undead soldiers battled it out in the arena below. At the highest point of the stands, sitting in his own personal box, was sat the Lord and master of this depressing world. Hades… Greek lord of the dead and king of the Underworld. He sat motionlessly in his throne next to his Queen, Persephone, watching the skeletal soldiers tear each other apart with their swords and spears. Months ago this sort of entertainment would've pleased him to no end. But lately it did nothing for him. He cared nothing for the sight of creatures ripping each other to shreds and the sound of clanging metal and crunching bone no longer sounded like music to his ears. No, it did nothing for him… not since he was defeated by that mortal boy.

"Why does his memory haunt me so, my queen?" Hades asked Persephone. Not bothering to look at her.

Persephone turned to her husband, her long coal black hair draped over her shoulder and her eyes gray as smoke, and offered him a simply answer. "Perhaps you are too proud." She said.

Hades slammed his hand onto the arm of his throne. "Unacceptable!" he shouted. "My Pride has nothing to do with it! How could I possibly be defeated in my own realm? I have absolute power here! No one, man, beast, or god, should be able to defeat me in my kingdom!"

"Well then," Persephone continued, "If you can not accept defeat then you may very well have to wait the many years until the boy dies to exact your revenge. But then again, even if you did wait that long, he would not come to this after life… ever since our religion died."

"Oh, I will have my revenge, and soon… one way or another…" Hades growled.

"Maybe I can help."

Hades quickly stood up and looked over to where the voice had come from, summoning a small troop of guards while doing so. "Who dares speak before the lord of the dead?" he demanded. "Show yourself!"

From the shadows of the stairwell where the voice had come from came another skeletal guard, or that's what it looked like at least. Unlike the other guards, who were all hunched over and supported themselves with their spears; this skeleton stood with perfect posture and carried a sword instead. And the fact that is could even speak was enough to reveal that it wasn't one of Hades guards. "Give me one reason why I shouldn't throw you into the depths of Tartarus right now!" Hades demanded.

"Because," the skeleton began. But before it could finish a ring of light surrounded its feet and slowly made its way up. As the ring passed over the skeletons body everything below the ring had changed into a large, plump, red-brown figure with no legs, green tentacle arms, and menacing yellow eyes. "I know exactly how to get that kid back here."

Hades smiled devilishly, recognizing this form as his old friend Hannibal Roy Bean. "Hannibal, my old friend, you have impeccable timing."

"Hannibal?" the bean asked. "Don't know anyone by that name, old timer." With that, the ring of light once again appeared at the beans base and started to move up its body. The plump, red-brown body quickly vanished, morphing into a more slender, human form. It was a teenage boy with shaggy brown wearing a pair of baggy jeans and a black T-shirt with a seven pointed star on it. "But people where I work call me Envy."

* * *

(a/n) I know, I know, shortest chapter Ive done for this story so far, and I appologize for that. however, the title does include the word "Part" and the number "1", so I will be continuing this storyline. the only reason its this short is because I ran out of ideas for this that I didnt want to do in the next chapter. anyway, on to more inportant stuff. Im gunna tell you right now that Raven wont be around for long. she'll be around for the next chapter (and possibly one more, Im still thinking that over), and then Im taking her out for reasons unknown. but dont worry, she'll be back eventually. Im actually really proud of Ravens character, mainly because of her inability to speak. I cant tell you how hard it is to really get into a character that cant speak. long story short, its hard. also, just for a little foreshadowing, I left some hints in this chapter about Rush's life back home. the hints, I think, can easily be found, but not so easily figured out. lets see if anyone can figure out what Im planning. and one more thing before I leave. Ive been itching to do something else lately, so now that Im done with this chapter Im taking a break from the Seven Sins to work on another prodject. dont worry, its just a one shot and I should have it done quickly. 


	17. Chapter 17: Raven and Revenge P2

(a/n) sorry this chapter took me so long. long story short, I had other things to do and no time to work on this. but still, I managed to get this done and Im pretty sure you wont be disapointed... surprise ending awaits.

* * *

Chapter 17: Raven and Revenge Part 2

_Raimundo…_

Rai grumbled as he lazily opened one eye half way. "Kimiko, that had better be you waking me up." He growled.

_Wake up, Raimundo…_

Rai growled again as he forced himself to sit up, rubbing his eyes. Already he could tell that something was wrong, just from the tone of the voice he was hearing. But he couldn't tell who it was. It defiantly didn't sound like Kimiko, or any girl for that matter. And it also sounded too old to be Omi, Clay or Rush. There was only one person left that he could think of. "Master Fung… is that you?" he asked groggily.

By then Rai had managed to keep his eyes open and he couldn't believe what he was seeing. Darkness. Complete darkness as far as he could see, just pitch-black, empty space. "Whoa! Where am I?" Rai demanded. It was only then when he started moving around that he realized that he wasn't sitting on a physical surface. He was just floating there, weightlessly hovering in that dark abyss. "What's going on? Where am I?" he demanded. "I know someone else is there! Why don't you show yourself and tell me what the hell is going on!"

_You need to wake up, Raimundo…_

As these words filled Rai's ears, a faint figure appeared before him. It was hard to make out, looking only like a dark gray blob in the distance, but he could see it… and it was walking towards him. "What are you talking about? I am awake!" Rai protested, "… then again, I am floating in complete nothingness… maybe this is a dream."

_Your situation is very real… Your friends are in danger…_

Rai snapped to attention and glared at the figure. It was still only gray, but lighter now and he could make out a head, arms, and legs. "What! Why didn't you tell me sooner? I need to get out of here! How do I leave?" Rai demanded.

_I've already told you…_ The figure suddenly bolted forward, stopping directly in front of Raimundo, revealing its appearance. It was an elderly man with a bald head and a gray mustache and goatee. He wore blue vest over his white and gray robes. "You need to wake up." Master Fung said simply before placing the tip of his index finger on Rai's forehead. That was when Rai blacked out.

UNDERWORLD COLISEUM

Ray's eyes snapped open the second he realized that he'd awakened. Already an eerie shill in his spin told him that he knew this place. Above him he saw a ceiling made of dark stone with stalactites hanging down from it. Around him he could hear the roaring of a crowd booing him hatefully. He forced himself to his feet and looked around. A circular gray stone wall the size of a football field surrounded him and above that was the stands filled to the brim with the spirits of dead Greeks and demons. He quickly spotted the private box which housed only two thrones from the lord of this realm and his queen. All of this told Rai that he could only he in one place. But still, he wasn't quite convinced until he saw the grate in the exact center of the arena. Beneath that grate was the small chamber in which his most hated memory had originated. That was proof enough to him that he was where he thought he was. "The Underworld…" he growled.

"Indeed it is, boy." Rai hadn't even realized that Hades was standing behind him the whole time. "I welcome you back to my domain. I hope you don't mind, but I took the liberty of having your attire changed for the upcoming event."

Rai looked down to his body to find that, as Hades had said, his clothes had been changed. He was wearing what looked like a traditional Roman gladiator uniform. He wore leather shoulder pads and torso armor with iron at the seams. He also wore leather pants under what looked like a short skirt made of iron plates. "Ok, what's going on?" Rai demanded. "Why was I brought here?"

"Oh, no reason really." Hades said smugly. "I just thought that you'd like to have the chance to save your little friends." With that, Hades clapped his hands once. A section of the arena wall slid away to reveal nine motionless figures chained to the wall and gagged with strips of cloth over their mouths and noses. Rage instantly filled Raimundo at the sight of all of his friends, including Raven, hanging helplessly from that wall.

"Ok, you son of a bitch!" Rai snapped, grabbing onto the front of Hades toga. "You'd better release them right now or, so help me, I'll…"

"You'll what?" Hades broke in, "Beat me to death? Well, you'd be wailing on me for quite some time considering that I'm immortal. Now get your filthy mortal hands off me so I can explain how you might be able to save the other monks."

"Actually, Hades, I thought I'd take care of that." Rai turned towards the private box in the stands where Hades usually sat to find something he hadn't expected: another living being. Ray recognized him immediately and his presence only added to his rage. It was the same boy he had fought back when they'd went to Mexico to find the Chimera's Breath… the same boy who had stolen Kimiko's fire away from her. "I figure that by now he's already tired of your fancy Greek speech with your big words and your small difficult words." Envy joked.

"Envy!"

"Oh, that's right, we've met before, haven't we?" Envy asked, honestly just remembering what had happened near Cancun. "What ever. That's old news, water under the bridge, ancient history, however you want to put it. The fact is that you're here now and, unless you cooperate, all nine of them are going to be staying here for a very long time."

Rai gritted his teeth and clinched his fist before growling, "Fine."

"Cool. So here's the deal. You are going to go through a series of challenges. For each one you win, one of the other monks will be returned to your party in prime fighting condition. However, the next event will be twice as hard. If by some stroke of luck you manage to win every event, you and the other monks can leave here immediately, going back to your semi-regular lives... any questions?"

"Yeah," Rai said, turning to Hades. "Why'd you team up with this guy? I know you're not evil, you're just uncaring for anyone but yourself. So why team up with one of the most evil people I've ever fought?"

"Simply to get back at you." Hades said before vanishing a burst of flames and reappearing in the box next to Envy. "Now then, let's start with something simple… Throw him a weapon and bring out the Minotaur!"

A golden blur came hurtling towards Rai from nowhere. When that blur hit the ground it turned into a golden sword with the guard in the shape of a horses head. Musha's Sword, a Shen Gong Wu Omi had found while Chase was conquering the world last year. Rai grabbed the sword and pulled it from the ground just as another section of wall began to slide away. Behind this wall was dark chamber from which a low growling sounded. Not long after it had opened, a pair of large, demonic yellow eyes snapped open and the creature inside gave a thundering roar. From the depths of that darkness stepped out a monster with the head and tail of a bull, the torso, arms and legs of a man, and teeth and claws sharp enough to rip anyone to shreds instantly.

"Let's see how the mortal fares against this mighty beast of Crete!" Hades announced to his spectators, causing an uproar of cheering from the crowd. "Begin!"

The Minotaur gave a thundering roar and beat on its chest a few times before charging at Rai. Rai was amazed by its speed and barely had time to jump out of the way. The Minotaur skidded to a halt and swung around, aiming at Rai again. This time Rai was prepared and stood his ground, waiting until the last second to jump over its head and quickly slash Musha's Sword at its back. The monster shrieked in pain and swung its arm back, knocking Rai to the ground and the sword half way across the arena. That blow knocked the wind out of Rai and he had a hard time getting back to his feet. While he struggled the Minotaur made its way over to him, casting its deformed shadow over him when it stopped only a few steps away. It grunted and bared its fangs before it dived head first at Rai, ready to tear him to shreds with its claws and teeth. Rai managed to curl into a ball at the last second, however, and launch his feet into the monsters nose, knocking it onto its back and causing its nose to begin bleeding. Rai took this opportunity to get back to his feet and make a dash for the sword. The Minotaur quickly got back to its feet, now more enraged than ever, and started after him. The beast knocked him away before he could grab the sword, this time taking it for itself.

Rai cringed at the sight of the Minotaur holding his only weapon. What was he going to do now? He began to glance around trying to think of something he could do to stop it. All he knew about bulls was that angry ones recklessly charged at whatever was angering them. Maybe…

Thinking quickly Rai backed up the arena wall and grabbed a loose rock from the floor. He whistled for the Minotaur which had forgotten about him in its curiosity over the sword. The beast returned its attention to him just in time for Rai to chuck the rock at its head. The beast roared and threw away the sword, charging at Rai just as he had wanted. Rai waited for the perfect moment before jumping over its head and letting it crash head first into the wall. He was positive that he heard something crack. "Dang, I just wanted to knock it unconscious, not break its neck." Rai said cockily as his feet hit the ground.

Like music to Rais ears, the crowd remained silent at the sight of the odds on favorite loosing to a mere mortal. The only ones who seemed to show any recognition of his victory at all were Hades and Envy themselves. "Congratulations, young mortal." Hades called out. "I commend you for your victory over the Minotaur."

"Yeah, me too." Envy said sarcastically. "And as we promised, you get one of the other monks back now." Envy then snapped his fingers.

A flash from the wall where the others were hanging and Rush suddenly appeared next to Raimundo in the arena, fully awake and clad in the same armor as Rai. Rush glanced around, having no idea where he was. "Dude, what's going on?"

"I'll explain later." Rai said, "Just get ready to fight… and I suggest you catch that before it hits your head." On Rais word, Rush lifted one arms and caught Goliaths Golem just before it hit his head.

"A weapon for the new comer." Hades said. "Now bring out the next beast!"

One by one Rai and his slowly growing party battled monster after monster. Rai and Rush first fought against a gigantic Cyclops, which was much smarter and more vicious that they Heylin Cyclops they were used too. Were it not for Rush using Goliaths Golem they probably wouldn't have made it out of that one. Once that was over Mimi rejoined them taking the Thorn of Thunderbolts as her weapon. Next Hades sent a flock of Harpies, large birds with the heads of women, at them. Once again Goliaths Golem came in handy, crushing many of them in its gigantic stone hands. The Thorn of Thunderbolts came in handy too. Rai just stood there feeling useless. Clay joined the team next, receiving that Fist of Tebigong. Before they could even take a rest a roar came from the Monster cave and a Chimera, a beast with the head and front legs of a lion, a second head and back legs of a goat, and the tail of a snake, came jumping out at them. A few quick slashes of Musha's Sword and a Tebigong to multiple faces took down that monster easily. Elena was revived next, receiving the Diamond Gauntlet as her weapon (lucky). The next challenge was the Basilisk, a large serpent with a deadly glare. They used Goliaths Golem to wrestle it to the ground and cover its eyes while they used their Shen Gong Wu to beat it to unconsciousness. Next Omi was returned to them and received his favorite Wu, The Orb of Tornami. The next battle was against a beast with a lion's body and the head and wings of an eagle called a Griffon. By now many of the others were getting tired so Omi decided to take this one by himself, jumping onto its back and taking control, crashing it into a wall above the stands. This released Saya who, to her displeasure, received the Monkey staff. Next the monks had to battle a Gorgon, a human, serpent crossover with snakes for hair that had a petrifying gaze. Everyone covered their eyes with a piece of cloth from their clothes before going into battle with the beast. In the end Rai chopped its head off and Rush had Goliaths Golem crush it into powder just in case. Julia was then released from her chains and given the Hitsuji Hammer. The next battle was one with a monster that even the dead dreaded… a gigantic serpent with nine heads… the Hydra.

The Hydra fell over with a thundering crash as Julia crushed the last of its heads with the Hitsuji Hammer. The crowd, who had somehow grown to like the group of fighters, cheered them on like honored heroes. Hades, scowling in disgust, clapped his hands to release Kimiko. In a blinding flash Kim vanished from the shackles on the wall and reappeared in front of Rai, loosing her balance and falling back into his arms. "Rai?" Kim asked. "What's going on?"

"Let's just say we're visiting an old friend." Rai said as he pushed her back to her feet.

Hades stood up and glared down to the group of monks. "Well done…" he called to Raimundo. "But now you must pass one final test. Choose one from your team and have the others back away." Rai did as he was ordered. However, instead of choosing someone Rush simply volunteered. "Very well then…" Hades said before nodding to Envy. Envy grinned as her grabbed something on the floor beside him. What ever it was that Envy was grabbing he tossed it into the arena as soon as he had it in his hand. The god and the Sin then disappeared in a blaze of fire and reappeared in the arena. "I believe you know that object as the Canine Crossbow… both of you, grab it, now!"

Just like that Rai, Rush, Hades and Envy ran for the crossbow, all four grabbing onto it at the same time. "Just like I planned." Hades muttered. "It's time for me to redeem myself! Mortals, Envy and I challenge you both to a, how do you say, Xiaolin Showdown!"

Rai grinned at the god smugly. "We accept." He said. "Our Musha's sword and Goliaths Golem…"

"Against our Shard of Lightning and Serpents Tail." Envy said.

"The game is a race across the river Styx." Hades announced. "First team to return to the underworld wins."

"You'd better release Raven after this." Rush growled at Envy. Envy just smiled at him suspiciously.

"Let's go, Xiaolin Showdown!"

A golden flash of light emerged from the Canine Crossbow, temporarily blinding all who saw it. When the light faded, the two teams found themselves sitting in canoes at one end of the emerald green river known as Styx. Behind them the light of the mortal realm shined and before then the long, dark tunnel that lead back to the realm of the dead. All four contenders held their Shen Gong Wu close as they readied to begin the race.

"Gong Yi Tanpei!"

Instantly the two boats started forward, reaching motor boat speeds almost instantly (there were no motors attached). The emerald waters of the river rose up behind them and left ripples in their wake and the whole time the two teams glared at each other. They remained neck and neck for a long time, but the river as well was long… and dangerous as well.

Two stone walls shot up from the water, blocking the paths of both boats. This caught all four competitors by surprise and they barely managed to get through, Hades and Envy using the Serpents Tail and Rai and Rush using Goliaths Golem to crush it. That was the first and only wall… for a while. Later two more walls shot up and were avoided in the same way and in half the time it took between the first two sets another pair showed up and so on. The two boats continued to faze and smash through the continuous walls for some time until the second obstacle showed up. A cave appeared at both sides of the river and low growling could be heard coming from it. As the two boats passed by two monsters, each with six heads on long necks and razor sharp teeth lashed out trying to snatch them up. Hades activated the Shard of Lightning to pass by unharmed while Rai had to fend off the beast by activating Mushas Sword and summoning the warrior spirit it held.

The finish line was getting closer now. They could hear the cheering coming from Rai and Rush's friends. "We've got to get the Shard of Lightning away from Hades!" Rai shouted to Rush.

"And how do you propose we do that?" Rush shouted back.

"Watch and learn." With that Rai stretched his hand towards the other boat and called out his element. A shall whirlwind stretched out from his palm and into Hades and Envy's boat, snatching up the Shard of Lightning and bringing it back to Rai. "Any questions?"

"Yeah…" Rush said, "You do see that wall we're about to crash into, don't you?"

"The what now?"

"Oh, for the love of… Goliaths Golem!" the statue in Rush's hand sprang to life, grew to its gigantic size and crashed through the wall, allowing them to pass through. "Stop showboating and start paying attention!"

Meanwhile on the other boat Hades and Envy had begun arguing. "You idiot!" Envy shouted. "How the hell'd you loose the Shard of Lightning that easily?"

"You dare speak to me that way?" Hades demanded.

"I'll speak to you however the hell I want!" Envy shouted. "Just make sure that we pass the finish line first," he groaned, "I'll go get the Wu back… Serpents Tail!" Envy's body became transparent and he went soaring into the air with the Serpents Tail in hand.

The entrance to the underworld was in sight now. Just a few more minutes and a winner would be decided. "Hey Rai, think you could speed this thing up a little?" Rush asked. Rai nodded and, summoning his wind power again, put his hand near, not in, the water. A small vortex appeared from his palm and began rotating amazingly fast, sending the boat flying forward and causing Envy to miss his target, falling into the water. Hades simply snorted and left Envy behind to suffer in the life absorbing waters. But still the Lord of the Underworld failed to realize that his opponents were catching up to him and fast. Their boat came zooming by him, sending a wall of water splashing into the boat before passing through the entrance of the Underworld.

In another golden flash the four found themselves back in the arena, Envy now quivering on the floor and looking like an old man. Rush and Rai held the five Shen Gong Wu proudly as Hades hair began to flair red again. "Get out…" Hades growled. "NOW!"

"With pleasure," Kimiko said before grabbing Rai's arm and kissing him on the cheek.

A portal opened up near them and the monks made their way towards it. But Rush stayed behind, glaring at Hades and the slowly recovering Envy. "Release Raven." He said simply. He clutched Mushas sword tightly in his hand. As he implied, Raven was still unconscious and chained to the wall.

Hades smiled and helped Envy to his feet. "You know, I would, but that wasn't part of the deal." He said.

"**WHAT?**" Rush demanded. "You get her off that wall right now or I'll…"

"Or you'll what?" Hades asked. "Kill me? What is it with you mortals and not understanding the concept of immortality?"

"He's right, kid." Envy, who now looked like his regular self, agreed. "The deal was that for each challenge you won we would return one of the **monks** to you. And If I'm correct, she is merely a quest at the Temple, not a monk. Man I love loopholes."

Rush charged at Envy and placed the blade to his throat. "You release her now!" he demanded.

"I don't think so." Envy said smugly. Energy suddenly surged from his body, pushing Rush away. "I think I'll keep her as a pet. I never did teach my last one to **roll over**." With that energy surged from Envy's body again, pushing Rush and the others who remained in the arena into the portal. It closed as Rush's face vanished into its darkness.

* * *

(a/n) whats this? Raven was kidnapped? this should be interesting. Ravens kidnapping will take a large roll later on and you will definatly see a change in Rushs attitude in future chapters. and if you didnt get the double meaning in "roll over", well, sorry cuz Im not explaining it. ok, anything else I need to say? yes! I mentioned a section in the story I code named "harem" in the a/n in chapter 15. well, Im going to do that next. and you wont believe what its about. Ive also decided that Im going to end this at Chapter 25 with a twist ending. just thought you all would like to know. 


	18. Chapter 18: Missing Monks

Chapter 18: Missing Monks

Kimiko yawned and stretched her arms as she woke up that morning. She glanced over to the digital clock she kept next to her bed… it was almost eleven thirty AM! _That's weird._ She thought as she stood up and grabbed some clothes before heading to the bathroom for her morning shower. Normally not only was she up by this time, but so was everyone else. In the eyes of Master Fung sleeping past eight AM was wasting half the day and he had everyone up by then at least. But from the looks of things Kim was the only one up at the moment. Not even obedient little Omi was awake yet. "Everyone's probably tired from the thing with Hades and Envy yesterday." She convinced herself as looked into the mirror to brush her hair after her shower. 

A knocking came at the door. "Hey Kim, you almost done in there?" Saya's voice called from the other side of the wall. "Other people have to use that room too."

_This is exactly why we need more than one bathroom._ A few minutes later Kim exited the bathroom to find an annoyed, not to mention tired, Saya leaning against the wall. "What happened to you?" Kim asked sarcastically.

"Ugh." Saya groaned. "I just had the work nightmare last night… barely slept at all."

Kim nodded. "So… have you seen anyone else this morning? It's been rather quiet and I'm getting concerned."

"I think I saw Rush head for the kitchen a few minutes ago and Mimi and Elena were still sleeping when I walked passed their rooms. Didn't see anyone else though." Saya explained.

"They weren't in their rooms?" 

"No, the curtains were closed."

"Oh… Ok. Thanks anyway." Kim said. Saya just shrugged and closed the bathroom door behind her. 

"Guess I'd better wake up Rai before he sleeps through the whole day." Kim made her way over to Rai's room and pulled the curtains back. "All right, lazy, time to get up." She said before realizing that she was talking to an empty room. "What the heck?"

"Who're you talking too?"

Kim turned around to find Mimi standing behind her, rubbing one eye and yawning. "Oh, hey Mimi." She said. "I just went to wake up Rai and, as it turns out, he's not here… You haven't seen Omi or anyone, have you?"

"I've been awake for fifteen seconds, I'm still rubbing my eyes, and my legs feel like their about to collapse beneath me… what do you think?" Mimi grumbled.

"Right… sorry."

The two girls went their separate ways then. Still, the fact that she hadn't seen Rai at all that morning was concerning Kim a bit. Just out of curiosity she decided to check the other rooms as well. As Saya had said, Elena was still sleeping and she was sure she heard Rush frying some bacon in the kitchen, but when she checked the other rooms she found no one. Along with Rai, Omi, Clay, and even Julia had disappeared. "What the hells going on here?" Kim whispered to herself. 

Later Kim, Saya, Mimi, and Elena (who had finally woken up) joined Rush in the kitchen for breakfast. Rush handed plates of eggs and bacon to Kim, Elena and Saya while Mimi, being a vegetarian, got a bowl of fruit salad from the fridge. Once everyone had their food Rush grabbed a single piece of bacon for himself, took a bite out of it, and started towards the door. "You're not going to eat with us?" Elena asked. Rush just ignored her and continued out the door, disappearing into the hall. "What's his problem?" Elena asked.

"You mean you don't remember yesterday?" Saya asked sarcastically, "The whole thing with Hades and Envy and Raven getting kidnapped."

"Yes, I remember." Elena growled. "… and I suddenly realize how stupid my question was."

"You can't really understand how he feels though." Mimi said, "I mean, none of us have ever had anyone really close to us taken away before." And that's when it hit them like a baseball bat to the back of the head. The same idea all hit them at the same time and they all looked at each other. "You don't think…"

The four girls forgot about their breakfast and scattered, beginning to search the temple for any sign of the others. It didn't take much time for them to find that Master Fungi was gone as well, but he'd left a not saying he had business to take care of at Guans Temple. As the hours passed they began to realize that their worst thoughts were true. All they'd found so far was Rai's MP3 player and Clay's hat. (Which was an undeniable sign that something was wrong). But the big giveaway was when Elena stumbled upon the note hidden away in a small crack in the wall.

_Infidels,_

_You might've noticed by now that your little boy-toys have gone missing, minus that black kid. If you haven't figured out who's responsible by now, well, take a guess… That's right! It's me! Everyone's favorite fifteen hundred year old psychopathic heylin witch! Now down to more serious business. I'm giving you exactly one day starting at midnight to find me and take your men back before the __**fun**__ begins. What __**fun**__ means you'll have to take into your own perspective. But like I said, I'm giving you twenty-four hours to find me. Let's see how much you really care about them…_

_Your favorite Sin,_

_Lust_

_P.S. Or Wuya, whatever you want to call me._

Kimiko crumpled the note in her fist and burned it to ashes in afterwards. "Ok, I'm gunna kill her… and this time, I mean it." she growled.

"Oh, I am so with you." Saya agreed, cracking her knuckles.

"Mind if I light her hair on fire first?" Mimi asked?

Elena cringed at the fact that Julia wasn't mentioned at all in the note but remained quiet. She didn't want to make a scene about it and the others were already angry enough… and she didn't want to say anything she might regret later.

"Ok, here's the plan." Kim said. "Someone go get Rush and Dojo. We're going after that bitch." Elena snuck off to fetch the two. "Saya, what time is it?"

Saya checked her watch, which she just happened to be wearing. "About seven." 

"Damn! We only have five hours… you two got any bright ideas?" They all went silent as they tried to figure out a way to find where Wuya was. It didn't take long at all.

"Oh!" Mimi said suddenly. "How about Odin's Eye! If we can see through Wuya's eyes they we'll probably be able to see where she is!" Kim and Saya both agreed and they ran off for the vault to grab some Shen Gong Wu. Rush, Elena and Dojo (who was still yawning) were already there. They quickly grabbed what ones they would need (the Odin's Eye, the Roosters Crow, the Sleeping Boar, the Emperor Scorpion, and a few others) before they headed back outside.

Kim placed the golden monocle to her eye and whispered its name. "Odin's Eye." She found herself looking out to a plain of short mountains with clouds at their base. Wherever Wuya was she defiantly seemed at home. "A high altitude and a lot of mountains…" Wuya turned around and started towards a mountain. "She's standing on a cliff on one of the mountains…" Wuya then placed her hand on a small section of the mountain and it sank into the wall. Then the rest of the wall sunk back as well and pulled away, becoming a door way. "She's in Chase Young's old fortress!" Kim said. "Let's go!"

LOCATION UNKNOWN

Pride sat patiently in the conference room as he waited for a certain someone to arrive. Quiet, alone, dark… just the way he liked it. He enjoyed the peace silence and darkness. It calmed the growing rage at how late the Oracle was for their meeting. "What is taking him so long?" Pride asked himself calmly."

"Perhaps you should ask yourself how long I've been here and you simply haven't noticed."

"Quiet as ever, I see." Pride chuckled.

"So, why have you summoned me?" the Oracle asked. "Is it time for another prediction already?" Pride nodded. "Of course, why else would you summon me, my lord? But I must remind you of our deal."

"I recall if fine, thank you." Pride growled.

"But you realize that this is my one hundredth telling to you, and our deal states that…"

"Yes, yes, I will return to you what is rightfully yours after one hundred prophesies and then we shall never speak again." Pride snapped. "But in order for our deal to take effect you must first tell me your final prophesy!"

The Oracle glared at him with his yellow dragon eyes. "Very well, but choose your subject carefully. I see many things and not all are to your liking…"

"Tell me the future of my Sins… tell me their fate and my own."

The Oracle eyed him in surprise. Never before had Pride picked such a humble subject for his predictions. "Very well… In three days time a warrior shall fall at your hand. With his demise you and your Sins will rule this world for one year. But on the twenty-first day of the twelfth month that warrior will rise again with an army at his side. He will lead them in a revolt in which you Sins will fall until only you and two others stand. You shall battle the warrior again but the outcome I can not say. But I can tell you this: Should you evade death until the three-hundred and sixty-sixth day this world will end and you shall be a god in the next. But should your breath end before that day not only will this world end… but all planets shall crumble… and the sun will die."

Pride nodded to him and flicked his wrist, signaling to the Oracle to remove his hood. The Oracle reached up and pulled it away, revealing a pair of yellow dragon eyes set into nothing more than a human skull. "Oracle… for keeping your word of one hundred prophesies I return to you what you have lost… let flesh return to your bone and remove your shroud… become human once again…"

JACKS PLACE

Jack sat at the work table in his basement, as usual, working on his latest robot. Truth was, other than searching for the occasional Shen Gong Wu, he didn't have much else to do anymore. Ever since he had last seen Nina at the tournament he really didn't feel like getting out of the house, even making robots was becoming boring anymore. He only did that because there was nothing else to do.

Finally fed up with the rocket launcher he was trying to attach to this robot, he tossed his tools aside and stood up. "I need some air." He grumbled before heading for the stairs. He headed upstairs, grabbing a soda from his fridge before going out to his back porch. The back yard was the same old giant sized garden his house always had: exotic plants, a super sized waterfall leading into a pond, the occasional squirrel or butterfly here or there… it bored the hell out of him. "Maybe I should throw a party." Jack thought out loud.

"Or perhaps the party has already arrived."

Jack swung around to find two people he hoped he'd never see again standing in the doorway. The first was an obese man clad in armor with a red cape. The second a man with cybernetic arms and it looked like his body was covered in metal as well. He recognized them as Gluttony and Wrath. "What happened to Wrath?" Jack asked jokingly. "He fall into some molten iron?"

"Silence you insolent fool!" Gluttony snapped. "We come for you…"

Wrath looked Jack over, his blood red eyes scanning him carefully. "Target: Jack Spicer… confirmed. Threat estimate:… five percent. Estimated time of capture:… under ten minutes." He said in his computerized voice.

"Excellent." Gluttony smirked. "Lord Pride will be most pleased."

"What the hell do you guys want with me?" Jack suddenly demanded. "I've done nothing to you! Why do I matter that much?"

"Silence!" Gluttony snapped. "You job here is not to ask questions! It is to run and hide, making the hunt more interesting. Now I suggest you get running before we begin the chase."

Jack stood there glaring at them; throwing the still half full soda can over the railing of the porch. "You know something… no. I'm tired of running, I'm tired of hiding, and I'm tired of being the god damn comedy relief. If you guys want to take me back to Pride then take me… but I'm not going alive." Jack then snapped his fingers and he was suddenly surrounded by a small army of his robots. 

Gluttony smiled fiendishly. "Did I not say this would be interesting, Wrath?" he asked.

"Response not found. Suggested action… attack." Wrath suddenly whipped up his cannon arm and started blasting away without even aiming so it seemed. But every shot managed to hit a robot precisely, blowing them up instantly. Only a few were hit, however. Jack activated his heli-bot and ordered his remaining Robots to attack. While the Robots handled Wrath Gluttony was left to go after Jack. Jack pulled out a few of his Shen Gong Wu, which now carried on him at all times. He pulled out the Yajuu Card first and called out its name and a horde of Gargoyles came flying from it. Gluttony braced himself and grabbed the first one, crushing its stone face in his hand, and then used its body to crush the others to ruble. Gluttony then grabbed one of the larger chunks of rock and chucked it at him, repeating this over and over again. Jack grabbed the Shadow Slicer and made multiple holograms of himself to avoid the boulders. While Gluttony was busy taking out the holograms the real Jack grabbed the Combo-Sickle and a few grenades from his pocket. He pulled the pin out of one, threw it into the air and slapped it with the Combo-Sickle making it stick to Gluttony on contact. The resulting explosion actually blew a few small holes in his armor, revealing a layer of chain mail beneath. 

"Found you!" Gluttony then shouted. Jack realized his mistake too late and reacted on instinct, pulling out the Lasso Boa Boa and throwing it around him. Gluttony only smirked and started pulling Jack closer to him. When Jack was close enough he let go of the Lasso and grabbed the Woozy Shooter and aimed it straight at Gluttony. As expected, Gluttony started acting like a lunatic and Jack managed to knock him out with a good kick to the face. Now all he had to do was deal with Wrath… who happened to be right behind him at that point. Jack quickly realized this and stabbed the silver man in the stomach with the Golden Finger, immobilizing him.

Jack pulled out the Falcons Eye and placed it to his eye, getting a look inside of Wrath. "As I suspected… You have been turned into a machine. And judging by your mechanics you're pretty advanced… but the only people who know how to do this stuff are me and…" Jack shook the thought out of his head, not wanting to remember that person. He got back to looking at Wraths insides and found the perfect target. Jack gave Wrath a good kick where his heart would've been if he were human. "There. Even when the Golden Finger wears off you shouldn't be able to use your arms and legs anymore." Jack said smugly. And sure enough Wrath fell over a few seconds later.

"Now get out of here." Jack ordered. "And tell your boss to leave me the hell alone…" Jack paused, thinking of something to add. "And say high to Nina for me too." he added before Wrath and Gluttony vanished with the wind.

CHASES OLD DOMAIN

"Get in there!"

Rai fell backwards into the room, landing on his ass, as the two golem guards closed the double doors behind him, locking them as well. He jumped back to his feet and started pulling and pushing on the door and messing with the handle in vain. The doors were made of a heavy stone and possibly the lock was strengthened with magic. There was no leaving through that door until he was let out. He turned around to get a look at the rest of the room. Maybe there was another way out. There wasn't. Apparently back when Chase lived here he had no use for a second door, windows, or even ventilation. Just lots and lots of space. But from what he could tell someone had moved in since he'd disappeared, obviously Wuya, since she was the one who'd abducted him.

All around the room the walls were draped with curtains of green, gold and pink even though there were no windows. Pillows of many shapes, sizes and colors completely covered the floor except for a small trail leading to the large bed on the other end which had pink curtains hanging over it so no one could see who, if anyone, was sleeping there. And on either side of the room there was a small table with two or three chairs made of what he guessed was ivory. "Why the hell'd they put me in here?" Rai mumbled to himself.

Just then a shadowy figure rose up behind the curtains of the bed. Rai couldn't tell who it was but had a good guess. "Welcome, Raimundo, to my chambers." Wuya's voice echoed through the room.

"Ok, I don't know what your latest plan is, Wuya, but from what I gather it's going to fail miserably." Rai said.

"Really? How so?" Wuya asked. From what Rai could tell Wuya was now crawling closer to the edge of the bed. He clinched his fists tightly and raised his arms just in case.

"Well, for one, you've only kidnapped me, Clay and Omi for some odd reason, which leaves six others ready to come and get us any time. Second, I'm perfectly capable of holding my own against you myself."

"How would you know that?" Wuya asked. "If I recall correctly you haven't fought me since I became the Sin of Lust."

"What's that got to do with it? I've seen Omi fight you and he seemed fine." Rai said.

Wuya chuckled behind the curtain. "Oh, foolish boy. Young Omi is a nimrod… and he hasn't even seen the entire package…" And as she finished speaking she reached up with both arms and pulled the curtains away, revealing herself to Raimundo. As soon as he caught sight of her Rai's jaw dropped and his eyes bulged out of his head.

"Holy shit…"


	19. Chapter 19: Burned

Chapter 19: Burned

Rai shouted in pain as Wuya's golem guards threw him back into the prison cell with Clay and Omi. He grabbed his shoulder and slumped over trying in vane to reduce the searing pain that had consumed his back. _What the hell did Wuya do to me?_ He mentally asked himself as he staggered further into the dark prison cell. He glanced over to where Clay was sitting and then over to Omi. Both were sleeping. _Either Wuya drugged them or they really don't know the gravity of the situation._ He thought as he sat down against a wall. Again the pain in his back flared up and he shouted causing Clay and Omi to awaken in a panic.

"Jesus, Partner! What the hell's goin' on?" Clay demanded. "That was louder than a bull headed for the slaughter house!"

"Back… pain… hurt… Wuya…" Rai managed as he leaned forward and tried to bare the pain.

"But what would Wuya want with just the three of us?" Omi questioned. "Why would she only take us and not the rest of the team? Can Rush and the girls not simply come and rescue us?"

"Here's an idea." Clay stated. "Why don't we shut up and try to escape."

"Don't bother." Rai breathed. "We'd be lucky to get out of this cell. Probably reinforced with magic or something. Then there's the problem of the guards. Not to mention that this place is basically a huge maze until you reach the surface." Rai cringed as he finished speaking.

"Man you're in some serious pain there, Rai." Clay pointed out. "What happened?"

Rai glared over to him. "Let's just say Wuya and I had a little talk." He said.

Clay wasn't sure he understood but dropped the topic anyway. He could tell that Rai really wasn't in any mood to talk at the moment. The three monks sat silently for a short time. Clay was trying to figure out a way to escape; Omi was more concerned with trying to figure out what Wuya was up to; and Rai was just trying to wade through his pain without shouting because of it. For a time it seemed that they were going to be left alone from there. But then again wishful thinking only leads to getting jinxed. About ten minutes after Rai had been thrown back in a duo of Wuya's golem guards came back and tore open the cell door. While one kept an eye on Clay and Rai, making sure they didn't interfere, the other walked in and grabbed Omi locking him firmly in the grip under his arm. No matter how much Omi squirmed and struggled he couldn't get free. The two guards only laughed sinisterly as they slammed the door shut and began to walk away with Omi.

Rai completely forgot about the pain in his back at that point, stood up and ran over to the bars. "Omi!" he shouted. "Find a way to blind yourself! Whatever you do, don't look at Wuya! Don't get anywhere near her!" that was all Rai managed to say before the pain became too much and he fell back, collapsing into Clay's arms who was just behind him.

"What're you talkin' 'bout, Rai?" Clay asked as he laid Rai down on his stomach. "What exactly did Wuya do you ya?"

Rai didn't bother looking up to Clay this time. He just laid there breathing heavily as the pain subsided slowly. He managed to say one word before passing out.

"Burn."

SKIES OVER CHINA

"Dojo, if you fall asleep before we get there I swear I'm having Lao-Mang-Lon soup for dinner tonight." Kimiko threatened as she noticed Dojo's eyelids beginning to droop. Immediately after discovering where Wuya had taken the boys (and possibly Jewel) Kimiko, Saya, Mimi, Elena, Rush and Dojo set off for Chase Youngs mountain fortress to rescue their friends. They been flying for two hours already and, if Dojo was remembering correctly, they were close. Saya was sure they were close. As she put it, she "knew the smell of Wuya's magic from a mile away." Dojo was the only one who knew, or at least cared about, the joke at the moment (**a/n** Magneto used a very similar line in X3).

"There it is!" Saya shouted, pointing down to a mountain with a large cliff near its summit. Dojo dove down towards the mountain and landed on the cliff.

The five teenagers jumped down from Dojo's back before he shrank down to his normal size. Dojo then slithered over to Elena and climbed onto her shoulders. He figured that, since everyone else there was pretty much an emotional volcano at the moment, he'd have the best chance of survival with her. "Ok, we're here." Dojo said. "Now what?"

"We need to find a way in." Kim stated.

"And how do you propose we do that?" Saya asked. "This place is rock solid. There isn't a back door, windows, secret escape routes, or even air vents. And I should know, I used to work here." Everyone except Kimiko and Dojo glanced over to the blond curiously. "Long story." She said. "Tell you later."

"So how do we get in then?" Mimi asked. "I doubt Wuya just left it unlocked."

"Maybe we should ring the doorbell." Mimi suggested.

"Oh, for the love of god!" Rush suddenly shouted. He reached into the bag of Shen Gong Wu he was carrying and grabbed a few. First he latched the Emperor Scorpion onto his wrist and then he placed the Sleeping Boar on the ground of him. "Cover your ears." He said before pulling out the Roosters Crow. With a loud, deafening screech the small golden pigs' eyes snapped open revealing two small rubies. The boar quickly grew to the size of a semi truck and started stomping its hooves, getting ready to charge. "Emperor Scorpion!" Rush shouted. The Sleeping Boar suddenly became calm. Rush then snapped his fingers and the Boar charged straight for the mountain side, crashing through with a thundering bang to reveal a dark tunnel. "There's your door." Rush snapped. "Now let's go get the others so we can get the hell out of here!" with that Rush called the Sleeping Boar back to its statue form and threw the three Shen Gong Wu back in the bag before pushing passed everyone else into the tunnel, mumbling something about having more sulking to do.

The group treks through the tunnel until they arrived in Chase Young's old domain. Most of them were blinded shortly because of the sudden brightness. Only Saya looked on unflinching. The white marble stairs and pillars, the green and blue stain glass windows (which had only rock on the other side), the multiple plants around the area, it all reminded her of those days many months ago. She couldn't help but quietly growl as thoughts of Chase Young filled her head.

"Saya?" Mimi questioned.

Saya shook her head quickly and snapped out of her trance. "Sorry." She said seemingly cheerfully. "Just some bad memories."

"So where do we go from here?" Rush asked.

"**STRAIGHT** **TO HELL, KIDS!!**"

Before anyone knew what was going on Wuya Jumped down from somewhere above and lashed out at them, aiming first for Kimiko. Kim managed to dodge the razor blades with the neon green aura that Wuya called hands by jumping back. Kim then manifested her fire power which engulfed her own hands. Saya did the same with her lightning. "You guys go!" Kim called. "Saya and I will handle this bitch." Before Mimi or Elena could protest Rush threw the Odin's Eye back in the bag and grabbed them both by the shoulders, dragging them away, claiming that they'd find the others somewhere underground.

"I hope you realize you just sent them into the lions den." Wuya said smugly. "I have thousands of golem guards down in the labyrinth beneath here. And even if they managed to survive them, they'll never be able to find your friends in the deepest, darkest depths of that place."

"Shut up and fight!" Saya shouted before sending a bolt of lightning straight for the witch. Wuya simply vanished and reappeared a few feet out of the bolts range. She then charged at Saya sending green fireballs in her direction. Kimiko went for the attack, ready to incinerate Wuya, but the Sin of Lust managed to grab both of her hands and catch her in a deadlock. The two struggled there for a few seconds trying to push each other to their knees. But then Wuya let go of Kims hands, swung her leg at Kim's ankles, knocking her feet out from underneath her, then swung around again and landed a kick square in the Japanese girls stomach. Kim went flying back, crashing into one of the marble pillars and cracking it in half. Saya then jumped into the air and shot multiple lightning bolts at her. Wuya merely chuckled and vanished again, this time reappearing in mid air and vanishing again and continuing this a few times more, each time coming closer and closer to Saya until they were on the same level. Once at eye level Wuya grabbed the Chinese girl by the forearm, lifted her up quickly, and then threw her down again sending her plummeting through the air and crashing into the floor below. Wuya laughed again and vanished, this time reappearing on the ground. Once she'd regained her footing she immediately noticed both Kimiko and Saya on either side of her running at her. The Sin of Lust simply smiled mischievously and, when both girls were at arms length, extended both of her arms and caught the girls by their foreheads. She let them struggle there for a second or two before vanishing, letting Kim and Saya continue charging and slamming into each other, knocking each other to the ground.

Wuya reappeared at the top of the large central staircase. "It was nice fighting you, ladies, but I have another appointment to get to." Wuya stated. "And by the way Kimiko, I finally see why you like that Raimundo so much. He is simply exquisite." With that she vanished again.

The girls got back to their feet, both glaring at the spot where they'd last seen Wuya. "What do you think she meant by that?" Saya asked.

"I don't know." Kim growled. "But I'm gunna find out." with that they ran after Rush and the others towards the doors which lead to the underground labyrinth where Wuya was keeping the others.

UNDERGROUND LABYRINTH

Clay sighed as he tossed another playing card into his hat on the other side of the cell. Why he had a deck of cards on him and how he was suddenly good at throwing them he had no idea, but he didn't really care at the moment. Rai was still unconscious and the golem guards hadn't returned with Omi yet. By now he was honestly more concerned with what they were doing with Omi (and what they already had done to Rai) than trying to escape.

Rai was still in serious pain as far as Clay could tell. Apparently the pain in his back was enough to make him pass out because Clay could still hear the occasional groan from Rai in his sleep.

Clay was getting ready to toss another card when a sudden crash and rumbling from above startled him, making him drop the remaining cards in his hands. "What in tar-nation was that?"

Clay looked over to where Rai was laying at the sound of soft chuckling. "It's the girls." Rai said as he pushed himself off the ground. "They're coming to get us. Who would've thought that Kim's short temper would come in handy one of these days."

"Easy there, partner." Clay said, standing up. "You're still pretty weak. Don't want ya collapsin' again."

"Don't bother Clay. I already feel like I'm gunna die." Rai chuckled. "And you should know me. If I'm gunna die then I'm gunna die fighting.

"Weren't you the one that said escaping from this place was a fools dream?"

"Yeah, something like that." Rai agreed. "But, unlike usual, I was actually thinking straight back then. Now that I've gotten used to this pain I should be able to come up with some stupid plan that is doomed to fail but we'll try it anyway."

"Now that's the Rai I know." Clay said.

Just as they'd finished speaking there was another crash and this one was much closer. The two boys ran over to the bars of the cell to find a huge hole in the ceiling just outside of the cell and a gigantic bronze armadillo a ways away lying on its side. "Is that the tunnel Armadillo?" Clay asked.

"See, what did I tell ya?" Rai asked.

"Nothing."

The hatch to the armadillo's cockpit opened revealing five teenagers, a dragon, and a bagful of Shen Gong Wu cramped inside. Dojo was the first to pull himself out and slither over to them. "Hey guys!" Dojo called back to the others still in the Armadillo. "We found them."

Rush was the next to squeeze out, along with the bag of Wu, which in turn gave everyone else enough room to easily get out. "You know, I was gunna ask why we didn't use the Tunnel Armadillo sooner… but after that I don't have to ask."

"Excuse me." Rai broke in, "Your leader and the stereotype cowboy are still locked up in here."

As soon as she heard Rai's voice Kim raced over to the cell and hugged Rai tightly through the bars. The second her arms touched his back Rai screamed as the pain stirred up again. Kim let go and backed away immediately looking at her boyfriend wide eyed. "Rai?" she asked. "What's wrong?"

"Back… hurts…" Rai managed to gasp, "… Not… you…. Blame... Wuya…"

Kim nodded and walked over to him and hugged him again, but this time only grabbing his shoulders and much more gently.

Saya looked over to Clay. "You're not gunna scream like that too, are you?" she asked.

Clay shook his head. "Apparently I'm last on Wuya's hit list." Saya smiled at this and pulled Clay into a tight hug through the bars.

Rush just rolled his eyes and walked away to make sure no golem guards were on their way. Elena, feeling a bit uncomfortable at that point, went to join him. Mimi stayed with the others looking confused. "Where's Omi?" she finally asked.

Saya and Kim backed away from the boys so that they could answer. They both looked away from Mimi in shame. "Well… ya see, Mimi…" Clay started, but Rai beat him to the point.

"Wuya's got him." Rai said. "And unless he was smart enough to listen to me he's gunna be in as much pain as I am. Please don't ask what she did… I don't want to relive it."

Everyone went quiet from there, with the exception of Rush and Elena who were having their own conversation far enough away that the others could barely hear. After a few minutes, however, the silence was broken, not by one of them, but by what sounded like a long scream from very far away. It was extremely soft at first but was slowly growing louder. "What is that?" Mimi asked.

"Sound's like it's coming from the hole you guys came through." Clay pointed out.

The scream grew louder still and by now everyone could recognize, or at least thought they recognized, who it was. "Omi?" Mimi asked, looking up into the hole in the ceiling. Right on cue Omi came falling through the gape in the ceiling and crashed face first into the ground, comically popping back up like a spring with little birds flying around his head. "Oh hello, my friends!" Omi said stupidly. "Have you ever tried skydiving without a parachute? It's great fun!" before he could say another word Mimi had tackled him to the ground and had her arms wrapped around him.

"Omi! Thank god you're ok!" Mimi said loudly.

"What happened Omi?" Rai asked. "How'd you get away?"

"It is a long and very detailed story with many plot twists and a musical number." Omi said, now back to his senses. But that's not why I'm here. I'm going to bust you out."

"And how do ya plan to do that?" Clay asked.

"Well, believe it or not…" Omi reached into his sleeve and pulled out a long, slender stone with a few notches in one end. "They were just using a key."

Fifteen seconds later Rai and Clay had been freed and everyone was ready to fight their way out of there… or so they thought. "Ok guys, let's go find Julia and get the hell out of here." Kim announced.

"What do you mean find Julia?" Rai asked. "Isn't she with you?"

"We thought she was with you." Elena said.

WUYA'S CHAMBER

"Let's see here… how should I begin my fun with this one?" Wuya asked herself as she eyed the Australian girl that was chained to the wall before her. Julia glared back at her not knowing what she was going to do. "Oh! I know. I think I'll start with a little mental torture and then we'll move onto the burning."

"And what exactly is the burning?" Julia growled.

Wuya merely giggled and turned away from her. "Oh, nothing. Just the very thing that has already decided the ultimate fate of your friend Raimundo."


	20. Chapter 20: Love and Lust

(a/n) sorry this chapter took longer than usual. I had other stuff on my mind not to mention school and other stuff. but still I managed and Im proud of the results. and now the conclusion of the harem trilogy story arc.

Chapter 20: Love and Lust

"Can someone please tell me again why just the three of us are doing this?" Clay complained while he, Saya, and Elena raced through the underground labyrinth while being chased by Wuya's golem guards. The three had set out not long after the team was reunited to go find Julia. If she was there then Wuya would know where she was. The others would've gone too but Rai was in no condition to do something like this and the others stayed behind to keep him out of harms way. And to make things worse hordes of the guards showed up as soon as the trio split from the others.

"Clay, shut up and keep running!" Saya scolded without looking back to him. Elena just remained silent the whole time. She had more important things on her mind to worry about those two too much.

Not much later the trio came to a crossroads in the Labyrinth. From what they could tell the guards that had been chasing them was still doing so, but now it sounded like there were more coming from the three other corridors. Elena clinched the Fist of Tebigong tightly and Saya extended the Eye of Dashi out in front of her. Clay, however, did some quick thinking and slammed his fist to the floor. "Earth!" Rocks began to crumble down from the ceiling and crash in front of the corridors around them. Eventually all four doors were blocked completely and there was a hole in the ceiling for hem to escape through. "That won't hold them for long." Clay pointed out. "Let's keep moving."

"And how do you expect us to do that?" Saya asked, annoyed. "We can't exactly fly and there's no way we're climbing that high up.

"Who says we can't fly?" Elena asked. She reached into the bag of Shen Gong Wu, which she'd stolen from Rush, and pulled out the Longi Kite and attached it to her back. She then grabbed the others by their shoulders and soared up to the hole above. They found themselves on the top floor of the Labyrinth, just outside of the exit.

"You were saying?" Clay asked Saya smugly. Saya just rolled her eyes and hit him playfully in the shoulder. Elena just detached the kite from her back and looked around warily. This was way to easy, even with all of the golem guards chasing after them. Something told her that something nasty was waiting for them outside of the labyrinth… and it was probably big too.

The trio trekked to the exit and were relieved to finally see bright light rather than the darkness behind them. They glanced around quickly to make sure they were safe. They noticed the cracks in the floor and a few pillars from Kim and Saya's battle with Wuya earlier but not much else. It seemed safe enough so Elena and Saya took a few steps forward into the brightly lit room.

"Get back!" Clay shouted from behind them. He grabbed them by the shoulders and pulled them back, flinging them behind him and making them fall backwards.

A thundering crash filled the two girl's ears before they could even get back to their feet to see what it was. But when they could see what Clay had pulled them away from it filled them with pure terror. It was a reptilian monster that was at least as tall as a one story house and from its nose to the tip of its tail was at least the size of two school buses. Thousands of electric blue scales covered its body, it had huge, lack claws and a row of spikes running down its back. It grinned at them and revealed its blood stained fangs and its pitch black eyes seemed to rouse their deepest fears to life. And to top it all off it had the seven pointed star tattooed to its forehead.

"Ah, well if it isn't the hick, the dumb blond, and Elena." Wuya's voice sounded through the room over the heavy breathing of the beast before them.

"Hick?" Clay asked angrily.

"Dumb blond?" Saya growled.

Wuya appeared atop of a pillar and glared down at them, watching them cower in fear of the beast causing hints of pleasure to gleam in her emerald eyes. She giggled softly before speaking again. "Now, why so scared? You remember Greed, don't you? I admit he looks a bit different, but that's no reason not to great him with open arms.

The three just gawked at her and began glancing between her and the beast she claimed to be Greed. They were about to ask what happened to him but Wuya beat them to it. "Greed met an unfortunate end a while back and I managed to gather his ashes and work some magic to create the Greed you see before you." Greed snorted in agreement, making flames blast of out his nostrils.

Clay, Saya and Elena backed a few steps backwards into the labyrinth, to focused on Greed to watch Wuya vanish. How were they supposed to fight that? They'd fought monsters before but nothing like nothing like this. And considering how powerful Greed was before this super-powered reptilian form was going to be nothing short of impossible to defeat. It was Saya who stepped forward first. "You guys go ahead." She ordered. "I still haven't gotten back at this ass for hitting on me."

At hearing Sayas words (mostly hearing the part about Greed hitting on her) Clay slammed his fist to his open hand and cracked his knuckles. "I'm feeling like stir fried croc for lunch, how about you guys?"

Elena sighed. "Let's get this over with." She said.

The trio stepped out of the Labyrinth once again and stood directly in front of Greed who seemed to laugh at them. His laughter quickly turned to a demonic snarling, however, and his eyes suddenly turned fierce and smoke began to billow from the sides of his mouth. His jaw suddenly snapped open and fire came jetting out and hitting just behind the trio, blocking any possible escape route. Greed then lifted one of its great claws and attempted to swat Saya way. Clay managed to jump in the way and grab onto the claw, however, stopping it before it could hit Saya. The Chinese girl took this opportunity to throw a few lightning bolts at Greed with little success. The electricity hit him right between the eyes and yet it did little more than make Greed shake his head. Greed snarled again and wrapped his claws around Claw, then throwing him aside. While Greed was distracted by Clay and Saya Elena jumped onto its back, pulled on the Fist of Tebigong, and slammed the Shen Gong Wu into the beasts shoulder. The sound of cracking bones and Greed screaming in pain sounded like music to her ears. Greed reached over with his still usable arm and grabbed her, throwing her aside only for her to be caught by Clay. Greed looked over it his broken shoulder and whimpered. Then, to everyone's surprise, he reached over and grabbed the injured arm and ripped from his body, tossing the severed arm into a few pillars and cracking them in half. He then turned his attention back to the monks. In one swift movement he swung around, slamming his tail into all three and sending them crashing against the wall.

Greed glared down at his foes. Now barely able to move, all three were struggling just to stay conscious. Happy with his work, Greed decided to finish the job. He began to inhale a massive amount of air and the back of his throat began to glow. Clay, Saya, and Elena closed their eyes and waited for their lives to end in a fiery explosion. But it didn't come. Before Greed could blast flames at them they heard a strange choking sound and then another that they couldn't identify.

Elena was the first to open her eyes and what she saw horrified her. Right in front of her was the charred and crushed skull of the reptilian Greed and behind that was the rest of the body, bones burned black and flesh completely melted away. And standing right next to her, looking over the bones and seemingly unaware that she, Saya or Clay were even there, was the man from the tournament that had called himself Pride.

"All of you… on your feet." Pride ordered without even looking at them. They simply sat where they were silently and glared at him curiously. "Listen you insignificant wretches; I'm going to help you find Lust! I gave her no permission to revive Greed in any form and she must pay for her disobedience. Now stand or I will kill you where you sit…"

Reluctantly Clay, Saya and, Elena staggered to their feet, never taking their eyes off of Pride. Pride then touched each of them on the forehead, healing them instantly. They looked over themselves quickly to make sure Pride hadn't done anything else, before confronting Pride about this. "Why are you helping us?" Saya asked.

"As I said… Lust must pay for her disobedience." With that Pride vanished leaving the trio to go after Wuya.

UNDERGROUND LABYRINTH

Rai stood helplessly in the center of a small circle made up of Omi, Mimi, Rush and Kimiko, unable to help them fight because of the condition of his back but unable to stand just sitting there doing nothing. All around them golem guards were swarming, making attempt after attempt to capture any of them. He watched as his beloved Kimiko did her best to fend off a dozen guards all by herself but being quickly overwhelmed. He watched his best friend Omi and his girlfriends Mimi get stormed by wave after wave of the walking rocks. He watched Rush gallantly face off against the golems as if lives depended on him... and many did.

He heard a scream coming from Kimiko's direction and swung around to find her. Two golem guards were holding her down by her limbs and a third had raised a bolder over its head, getting ready to crush her head with it.

More cries of distress. He looked around to find that now Omi, Mimi and Rush were in the exact same situations. Its like they were forcing him to choose who would die and who would live. He flashed back to when Wrath had pinned him to a tree and asked him if Kim or Jewel would die first. He couldn't take that again… not again…

"No! You all let go of them now!" Rai ordered. The golems only grinned at him and raised the boulders higher. Rai cringed in his rage. He was ready to strike but if he moved towards one then the others would die instantly. He didn't want that. What was he going to do?

The pain surged through his back again. He crumbled to his knees and clutched his sides in agony. It was more intense than ever now. It felt like fire was seeping out of his skin and he was burning from the inside out. And just as the pain began to dull down it surged again, this time followed by cries of pain by both him and the golems all around him. And suddenly the pain stopped. His back felt fine and he was able to stand again. In fact, it actually felt like he was stronger than before. "What the…"

Then he remembered the others. He looked around to find that all of the golems had simply disappeared. He glanced over to Rush quickly who nodded back at him and then to Omi and Mimi who were helping each other to their feet. With their wellbeing confirmed he rushed over to Kimiko to make sure he was ok. "Kim! Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine." Kim answered. "What about you? I heard you screaming and then the golem guards disappeared. What did you do?"

"Nothing… at least, I don't think I did anything."

"Hey guys!" Rush called, "You can talk later, let's just get out of here while we can walk instead of fight for once!" everyone agreed and followed Rush the rest of the way out of the Labyrinth. But still, the thought of that pain and how the golems just vanished like that haunted Rai's mind.

_What did Wuya do to me?_

OUSIDE OF WUYAS CHAMBER

Elena, Saya, and Clay stood before the double doors of Wuya's bed chamber. Inside they could hear the fiendish laughter of Wuya and the sobbing of another girl, though the thick marble walls deluded the sound very much. She wasn't sure how but Elena could tell instantly that the sobbing girl inside was Julia… just from a gut feeling. Elena made a silent promise to herself to make Wuya pay for whatever Wuya was doing to her.

Clay looked at Saya who nodded back at him. Clay then stepped forward and grabbed onto the door handles. He turned both and tried to push the doors open but to no avail. "Well," Clay said, embraced, "I guess the direct approach is out of the question."

"Did you really think that Wuya would be stupid enough no to lock the doors?" Elena asked.

"Honestly, yes." Clay answered. Saya and Elena just looked at him in frustration.

"So, how do we get in then?" Saya asked.

"I'll handle that." Elena said. "You guys head outside and wait for the others… this is something **I** need to do alone." Clay just looked at her in confusion while Saya gawked at her in surprise but seeming to understand. "Please," Elena continued, "Just let me do this alone."

Clay just shrugged and walked off, softly complaining about fighting his way up here only to be sent away. Saya, however, stayed behind to get a few last words in. "Are you sure about this? Fighting Wuya on your own isn't going to be easy."

Elena paused to gather her thoughts before answering. "I've never been more sure about anything else in my entire life." She said confidently.

"All right then. But if you need us we'll be there for you." Saya then ran off, chasing after Clay.

Once she was sure that both Clay and Saya were gone Elena started with her plan. She reached into the bag of Shen Gong Wu and pulled out the same ones Rush had used earlier. She activated the Roosters Crow, causing the Sleeping Boar to awaken, and then used the Emperor Scorpion to gain control of it. She took one last look at the double doors to mentally prepare herself for this. Saya was right, fighting Wuya alone wasn't going to be easy… but she had to do this for more reason than one. Elena pointed towards the doors and the Boar charged, crashing into the marble and making it crumble away to reveal the large pillow filled Chamber where Wuya slept.

INSIDE WUYAS CHAMBER

"You disgust me!" Wuya spat to the Australian girl chained to the wall before her. "Being attracted to people of the same sex… it's completely appalling!" Wuya grinned fiendishly as she saw Julia's face begin to turn red and puffy from the tears welling up in the corners of her eyes. "Face it, you filthy lesbian… your so called friends hate you, your parents will hate you when they find out, that old crone Fung will banish you from the temple the second he finds out, but most importantly… I'm going to make you pay for your blasphemy right here and now." She paused again and listened intently as Julia let out a sob she'd been holding in. Psychological warfare was actually working better than she expected. _Maybe I should've done something like this to Raimundo instead of just chaining him down…_Wuya thought to herself. But the time for her fun was over. She had a job to do and she intended to do it.

The Sin of Lust took a few steps back and snapped her fingers. The floor between her and Julia simply melted away into darkness and from that darkness arose a hearth seated on a pedestal. Sitting in the hearth was a large fire made of black flames, spreading darkness into the area instead of light. Wuya snickered at the look of terror in Julia's eyes as she just gawked at the black fire. The witch kicked away a pillow near her to reveal a sharp metal rod which she picked up and placed into the fire. A few minutes later she pulled the rod out of the flames, the tip of which was now red hot. "Now then…" Wuya said, "The only question remaining is where to mark you…" She looked over the girl's petite figure a few times but only snorted in disappointment. "So many places to cause pain to… can't decide…I know! How about that pretty face of yours." She moved foreword quickly and grabbed Julia by the chin, turning her head to one side and placing the metal rod close to her cheek. "Now hold still or this will hurt a lot more than it has too."

Just as these words left her lips Wuya heard a thundering crash and small stones came zooming passed her face. She quickly stepped away from Julia and dropped the rod back into the hearth before turning to confront whatever this was. "What the hell's going on?" she demanded.

A large shroud of dust covered the intruders that had crashed through her wall but already she could make out the figure of a huge pig and a blurred figure standing next to it. Wuya mentally scolded herself for leaving Greed to take care of those three pests instead of doing it herself. It wasn't long before the blurred figure called the Sleeping Boar back to its statue form and stepped forward. "All right, bitch, you've got five seconds to step away from her!" Elena shouted from across the room, clutching the Fist of Tebigong tightly.

Julia looked over to Elena and continued crying, but shedding tears of joy instead of sorrow now. She'd known Wuya had been bluffing but fell for it anyway. She had let herself doubt her friends for only a minute and she almost paid for it. But now she was gazing hopefully over to Elena who had come to rescue her… and just Elena… Where was everyone else? Were they still fighting some of Wuya' guards or… _Or did she come here alone by choice?_ Julia mentally asked herself. And small smile found its way onto her face.

Wuya only crossed her arms and glared at Elena questioningly. She too wondered where everyone else was but said nothing of it. "Why should I leave her alone?" the witch questioned. She walked back over to Jewel and grabbed her chin again, this time turning her head towards Elena. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't burn this little dyke right now."

And that was all the motivation she needed. On a single impulse Elena quickly reached behind her and pulled out the Canine Crossbow, shouting its name and pulling the trigger, launching a few of the dog shaped darts directly at Wuya. Wuya jumped out of the way and cast a wave of neon green energy at the darts causing them to explode before they could hit her. The witch glanced back over to where Elena was and found that she had disappeared. Before she had time to think she heart footsteps and swung around, barely managing to catch the Fist of Tebigong in her hand before it hit her back. Wuya then grabbed Elena's other arm and spun around before pulling on her arm and flinging her over her shoulder. Elena skidded across pillows and rocks before coming to a finally slamming into a large boulder from the broken wall. Thinking quickly she pulled out the Ruby of Ramses and pointed it at the rock behind her, flinging it at the witch. Wuya took the hit full force and went flying back were it not for a quick barrier she had conjured up she would've been crushed when she hit the wall with the bolder on the other side. It still did a number on her though.

Elena staggered to her feet and made her way over to Wuya before the witch could get up and attack again. The Spanish girl grabbed Wuya by the throat and lifted her up, pinning her against the wall and choking her. Wuya glared at her, knowing that she'd lost. Still, her ego was to big for her to give up completely. "Why do you fight so fiercely for this girl? Why do you care what fate I bring down upon her?" she questioned. "… Is she your girlfriend or something?"

Elena tensed up at Wuya's words, tightening her grip on the witch's throat and looking over to Julia. She actually had a point. Why was she fighting so hard to protect Julia? _It's because we're friends, nothing more!_ She told herself. She kept glancing back and forth between Wuya and Julia and at one point she and Jewel made eye contact. Something came over he then… something she couldn't rightfully explain. She remembered watching part of Kim and Saya's fight with Wuya. The passion those two had fought with just to get back at Wuya for taking away those they cared most about, it was just like the fight she'd just had with Wuya. _Then again… maybe…_

And that's when Elena Murrieta made a decision that would affect the rest of her life.

She turned back to Wuya, tightening her grip again, causing Wuya to gasp for air. "You know something…" Elena spat. She then released Wuya's throat and slugged her across the face as hard as she could, successfully knocking her unconscious. "Yeah… she is."

Julia stared wide eyed at Elena, completely forgetting about Wuya or even that she was chained to a wall. Had Elena just said what she thought she said? Thought like this filled Julia's head as Elena walked over to her and destroyed the chains that had bound her to the wall. It was only when she fell to he knees that she found the strength to speak. "Elena… what are you…"

We'll talk about this later." Elena broke in. "Right now let's just get out of here. The others are probably waiting outside." Elena offered her hand to the Australian girl to help her up. Julia smiled and took Elena's hand…

… and didn't let go until they and everyone else was home again.

* * *

(a/n) and there you have it. Julia and Elena are as of now together, the pain in Rais back raises more questions than needed this late in the story and Greed has died for the second time. Im very of my work this time. sorry if this chapter seemed to focus to much on Elena and Julia. I wanted to make the part with Rai and the others longer but its late and I just dont have time. but Ill have more in future chapters... speaking of which, only five left until the end! see ya later.


	21. Chapter 21: New Blood

Chapter 21: New Blood

Wrath, Gluttony, Lust, Sloth and Envy sat quietly around the Sins' meeting chamber in their thrones. Wrath remained eerily silent, his glowing blood red eyes just staring at his gatling gun arm. Gluttony too sat silently, though he did occasionally glance over to Lust and snicker. It was no secret that she had failed in the mission Pride had set for her and most everyone expected her to fall to Prides power, just as Greed had. Even Wuya herself expected the ultimate punishment from Pride and, knowing that there was no escape, she silently prepared herself for death. Two chairs down Sloth and Envy were whispering back and forth, trying to make sure that the others didn't hear a word they were saying.

"What do you mean you're leaving?" Envy demanded softly. "You can't just leave us! Pride will have Wrath kill you before that happens!" believe it or not Envy was actually concerned for Sloth. She had just told him that she planned on leaving in Seven Deadly Sins after the meeting, leaving her powers behind as well.

"Then I'll escape before that happens." Sloth snapped back. "I don't care about Pride or his plans anymore… and frankly I never did… we don't even know what he's up too anyway."

"You're not getting it." Envy argued. "You can't just runaway from Pride. Even if you escape a first time he will hunt you down, have you killed, have your head brought to him on a silver platter and then he'll burn your head in fire straight from hell!"

"Then I'll die fighting! And at least I won't die as a Sin."

Envy just sighed and shook his head. "Prides not going to like this." He said.

"Like I care."

Just as Sloth had finished speaking Pride appeared in his throne, the eyes on his eagle helmet glowing bright red, a sure sign that he wasn't happy. "Let's get this over with." He spat as his eyes began to dim down. "First off, I believe that Sloth has something to announce." All eyes turned to Sloth.

The red head flinched when she heard Pride speak but ignored it and stood up. "Let's just cut to the chase. I'm leaving the Seven Deadly Sins." Immediately Lust and Gluttony went wide eyed and Envy just rubbed his temple and shook his head. Wrath and Pride remained emotionless. "I'm not going to spend what could be the rest of my life trying to take over or destroy or whatever Pride wants to do to the world when I know that I'm a good person." She stopped their and looked over to Pride. He seemed unmoved.

"You wish to leave our organization?" Pride asked. "You expect us to trust you with all of our secrets and other things we can't risk having found out?"

"Erase my memory, I don't care." Sloth said. "I just want out."

Pride glared at her, but surprisingly his eyes did not begin to glow. With a quick nod he said, "Very well. You may leave at once. Leave the Sin of Sloth behind and return to your normal life. I do not care."

Sloth gave him a confused look. "And what about my memories?"

"Keep them." Pride said. "Like anyone would believe you, knowing your previous life."

"I'm not going back to my old life… I'm starting a new one." With that Sloth vanished, leaving behind an orb of neon green energy where she had been standing. Lust and Gluttony continued to gawk at where she'd been standing, wondering what on this planet could possibly make Pride allow Sloth to leave on a whim.

"Lord Pride, if you don't mind my asking," Lust said, "Why did you just allow her to leave like that. You know we can not trust her like this. We should've killed her on the spot."

"I agree." Gluttony said. "It is not wise to let her go like this."

Pride simply chuckled. "Don't you two worry about her… I have plans." The eyes on his helmet suddenly flashed red as he snapped his attention to the two. "You, particularly Lust, should be worried about yourselves." He paused briefly to allow himself to cool down. "Lust, stand and approach me." He ordered.

Wuya did as she was ordered and stood before him. Knowing that she was doomed she formulated a quick speech in her head that she hoped would lessen her punishment to eternal torture instead of death. "Yes m-my lord." She stuttered.

"I gave you a simply order…" Pride said angrily. "Capture and burn all nine of those annoying monks without fail. And yet you only managed to burn one! You could've taken them all at the same time and yet you made an ass of yourself and decided to make it more interesting by only taking half and letting the anger of the others bring them to you. And worse yet, even with Greed's help, who I never allowed you to resurrect by the way, you were defeated by not all of them, not even half of them, but by a single girl who didn't even hold on of the Xiaolin Elements within her… What do you have to say for yourself?" Wuya opened her mouth to speak, but couldn't find the strength to even look him in the face, much less speak before him. Because of this she simply groaned and bowed. Pride smiled devilishly and began to laugh. "Excellent work!" he chuckled.

Confused and disoriented by these words Wuya lost her balance and fell forward. She quickly got back to her feet and looked to Pride directly. "Excuse me?" she questioned.

"I all honesty, Lust, I never expected, or even wanted, you to burn more than one of them. You see, there are forces at work in this universe that control the fate of insignificant beings like them and, as painful as it is to admit, for the time being us. I knew you would only manage to burn one of them and I know now that one is the one I must worry about the most. If the mark you burned onto his back does not take care of him within the next three days then I will. So, to be truthful, your mission was a complete success. You shall have your reward later. Now return to your throne."

Suddenly very pleased with herself Lust bowed and thanked her master before turning and walking back to her seat, both Gluttony and Wrath gawking at her the whole time. "Envy…" Pride spoke. Envy jumped up from his chair and walked to the same spot that Lust had been in. "You struck a deal with Hades himself and, unlike Lust, took the entire team of monks. And set up a series of trial, each of which they defeated with ease. And to top it off you and Hades lost against in the showdown against the Brazilian and African boys. Were it not for your one successful venture in this I would've killed you where you stand."

"And that success would be?" Envy asked.

"After the showdown you kept the mute girl, enraging the one they call 'Rush' and revealing the darkness within him. We could use this darkness greatly to our advantage… you do still have the mute girl, correct?"

Envy laughed. "Yes I do!" he said suspiciously.

"Excellent… you may be seated." Envy did as he was told and retreated back to his throne.

"Are we done here?" Gluttony suddenly asked. "I'm missing a meal here."

Pride quickly turned to Gluttony; the eyes on him helmet flashing red again. "You will speak when spoken too, you insignificant wretch!" he snapped. "Gluttony, Wrath, approach me!" Wrath, being the machine that he was, obediently approached his master and kneeled before him. Gluttony, shocked and confused, did so more cautiously and did not kneel. "I gave you two a simple mission. Track down and capture Jack Spicer… and what do I get? Complete disappointment! You couldn't even capture that pathetic insect? He has the fighting skill of a sick kitten and his robots are mere toys compared to you, Wrath! How do you explain this?" Pride demanded. "Jack Spicer is the only one of them that we are sure of and his capture is of the utmost importance! If there were ever a moment where I was willing to kill the both of you, it would be right now!... in fact…" Pride vanished from his seat and reappeared directly in front of Gluttony. He lashed out and grabbed Gluttony by the throat (which was a bit difficult to find). He lifted the obese man into the air as the neon green aura surrounded Gluttony and his visible flesh began to turn gray and his eyes melt away. When the choking and struggling stopped Pride released Gluttonys throat, letting his armor fall to the ground and his body disintegrate into dust. Pride then turned to Wrath. "You're next." He scowled. "Any last words?"

Wrath stared at Pride with his empty red eyes. Lust and Envy could actually feel the tension building up between the Machine and the master. But that didn't make sense. Wrath was a machine now. He couldn't feel anything or build tension with anyone. How was this happening? "…You'll… never… take… me… alive…" Wrath managed to say before his eyes dimmed down to black and his body fell to the ground.

Lust and Envy stared at Wraths now lifeless body in awe. "What just happened?" Lust asked.

Pride simply snorted and returned to his throne. "Seems he had some freewill left after all…"

"And so seven become three." Lust said, "… I could've sworn that Gluttony would've lasted longer than Envy."

"Hey, I find that offensive." Envy retorted sarcastically.

"Envy, you're dismissed." Pride announced, "Lust, I would like to have a word with you."

LATER

Envy chuckled quietly to himself as he watched Raven glared at him from within the dungeon cell with hatred blazing in her eyes. It had been like this since the day he'd brought her here from the Underworld. She'd just sit in there glaring at the wall and Envy when he checked up once or twice a day. She wouldn't sleep, she barely ate, and Envy would say she wouldn't speak but she couldn't do that to begin with.

"Oh, if only you knew the plans we have for you." Envy jeered at her. "Yes… Pride thinks you'll make the perfect bait for those annoying monks. And I'm going to enjoy kicking the tar out of that friend of yours."

Raven's eyes suddenly snapped open and went completely white. Just as suddenly a golden aura surrounded her body and jumped from her fetal position and charged at him, completely forgetting about the bars that blocked her path. Even so Envy jumped back in surprise. "That aura." He breathed. "So Pride was right… she is one of them… Oh, he is just going to love this." He turned around to leave but looked back at her quickly before teleporting. "You be a good girl now." He joked before vanishing.

Envy reappeared just outside of the great double doors which lead into Prides personal chamber. He'd given very clear orders when the Sins first began that no one was to enter this room without an extremely good reason, such as if there were an emergency they weren't to bother him in there until it became a catastrophe. Even with this Envy figured that the discovery of one of them was reason enough.

Envy took a few steps toward the door and was about to knock. But before he could he hear voices coming from inside and noticed that the doors were already opened slightly. Envy found it strange that he could hear not just Prides voice but also the voice of a woman who he suspected to be Lust and, despite his better judgment, his curiosity got the better of him. He leaned towards the crack between the doors, just wide enough for one of his eyes to look through.

He could barely see the room inside. It was almost pitch black with the exception of a few torches hanging on the walls. The minimal light emitted from the torches revealed strange markings etched into the walls, possibly of some dead language that he couldn't decipher. Other than that there wasn't much he could see other than the foot of Prides bed… and from what he could tell there was a figure (possibly two) laying underneath the blankets.

The next thing Envy saw was Pride walking into view with his arms crossed behind his back. He glanced back over to the bed and sure enough there was still a body lying underneath the blankets. _Pride, lucky son of a…_ Envy's thoughts trailed off as Pride began to speak again.

"So… just two days from now is judgment day… and still we have yet to capture even one of them. This is such a disappointment. I should've known better than to hire those idiots… at least you and Envy aren't complete disappointments."

At these words the person still in the bed got up and walked over to Pride. As Envy had suspected, it was Lust and, to his disappointment, she was fully clothed (as little clothes as she had). She stopped right beside him and looked in the same direction he was, possibly watching something Envy couldn't see. "Hopefully you will do better next time." She said. "Though I still don't see why you didn't whack Envy with the others."

Pride only laughed at her words. "Please… Envy has proved his worth time and again. He is ten times the warrior you will ever be." Envy was surprised at these words and snickered at Lust's disappointed face. "And, unlike the rest of you, Envy was successful on every mission I sent him on, with the exception of Mexico."

Lust just rolled her eyes, "Yeah, all one of them. He's been on the same mission since Greed, Gluttony and Sloth went after the Quasar Cube."

"True." Pride agreed. "But he has yet to fail at that mission, which is more than I can say about you."

Lust glared at him in disappointment but a devilish smirk quickly crawled onto her face. "True enough," she agreed, moving in front of Pride and leaning back into him. "But I've pleased you in many ways that he never could, correct?" Pride just laughed again and agreed before turning his attention back to the unknown objects that were out of Greed's sight. "So," Lust continued, "What are we going to do with** these**? They look pretty useless to me."

Pride just grinned and simply said, "It's time to bring in some new blood."

Envy backed away from the door, thoughts of everything he'd just seen racing through his head. What did Pride mean by _judgment day_? What were these things he called _new blood_? And did Wuya mean what he thought she meant? With all of this, Envy figured that it wasn't a good time to even consider speaking to Pride. "I'll tell him about the girl later." He told himself before vanishing back to his own chamber.

* * *

(a/n) so, Sloth has left and Gluttony and Wrath are dead. bet none of you expected that. that was mainly the reason for this entire chapter, other than me just wanting to do a chapter focusing entirely on the Sins. also, now Raven is one of "them" as the Sins call who ever theyre looking for and Pride is hiding something important. anyone wanna guess what this is? and one last thing before I finish, this chapter and the next will take place at the same time (with the exception of the final scene in the next). only 4 chapters to go. even Im getting excited at this point. later.


	22. Chapter 22: A Night to Remember or Not

Chapter 22: A Night to Remember… Or Not

Omi silently scanned through the rows upon rows of books before him, mouthing the title of each book he saw. He'd been at this for hours and, as vast as the temple library was, was barely over three quarters of the way done. In his hand he held three plain white scrolls with Chinese characters written on each. The scrolls, in the order that he found them, read: _Fire Style: Flames of Sono Kasai Nisou, Wind Style: Gale of Sono Kaze Touzoku, _and _Earth Style: Stones of Sono Tsuchi Rurousha_. All that was left was lightning. But despite finding three out of the four scrolls those weren't what he was looking for.

From the corner Omi noticed someone walk into the library and looked to see who it was. Finding that it was Mimi Omi went back to his search, not minding when Mimi kneeled down behind him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "What're you up to, Shorty?" she asked. Shorty was an affectionate nickname Mimi had given Omi, and it was one that he wasn't particularly fond of, but he allowed Mimi to call him that out of his love for her… anyone else who called him that, however, was in for a beating.

"I'm looking for anything at all I can find on the Seven Deadly Sins." Omi explained as his eyes moved onto the next shelf.

"What makes you think the library has anything on them?" Mimi asked. "These guys have evaded every history book in existence."

"True, but then again, so have the Shen Gong Wu, Grand Master Dashi, Wuya, Chase Young, Hannibal Bean, Dojo… **US**…"

"Ok, you've made your point." Mimi grumbled.

Omi scanned through a few more books before finding something that peeked his interest. He quickly removed his girlfriend's arms from his shoulders and jumped up to the shelf, grabbing the fourth scroll he'd spotted and removing it from its place. Unfortunately he didn't manage to get any footing on the shelf below and fell back into Mimi's arms, pulling a few books with him. Omi smacked himself on the forehead as Mimi set him back onto the ground. Meanwhile Mimi went to pick of the scattered books, Omi joining in quickly.

Not even fifteen seconds later Mimi picks up a particularly old looking book. Curious, she opened it to the title page. She gasped at the words she read. "Omi! Take a look at this!" Omi quickly walked over to her and read the page.

_The Diary of Xiaolin Grand Master Dashi._

Omi and Mimi stared at the ancient book in awe. Neither of them had any idea that Dashi had even kept a diary, much less that it still existed. "This may be exactly what I'm looking for." Omi said suddenly, "Let me see it." Mimi handed the book to him and Omi began to skim through the pages carefully. It didn't take him long to find what he wanted. Mimi leaned over his shoulder to see what he was reading and they both gasped as they finished the passage.

THE REC. ROOM

Clay sat silently on the couch with Saya resting her head on his shoulder. The two had spent the last hour or so watching _3:10 to Yuma_ on DVD but both were more interested in simply enjoying each others company than watching the movie. Clay looked over to his girlfriend and smiled at her, but this went unnoticed as her eyes were fixed on the shoot out scene in the movie. Clay the chuckled and whispered, "Hard to believe I went six months without this girl."

"What was that, Clay?" Saya asked, turning her attention away from the movie and over to him.

"I said it's hard to believe I went six months without you." Clay repeated. Then a thought occurred to him. "Where were you all those months, anyway?"

Saya sighed and scooted closer to him. "I just needed to clear my head is all," she insisted, "I still see Chase every so often in my dreams… all those memories of what I did to you guys… I just can't stand it."

Clay noticed her face begin to turn red slightly, a sure sign that she was beginning to cry. He quickly wrapped his arm around her and tried to change the subject but Soya pushed him away, shaking her head and smiling at him. "But that's not what you meant, is it?" she asked, wiping a tear from her eye. "What you mean is 'why did you come home when you did'?" Amazing how easily the blond girl could read Clay's mind. Clay couldn't help but nod. Saya smiled at him again and gave him a quick kiss before continuing. "Well, you see… it's no coincidence that I showed up again just as the Sins began to emerge… It all started in Kenya one day while I was traveling. I was taken in by an indigenous tribe who lived at the base of a mountain. They were nice people… they gave me food, water, and even some of their jewelry. But a few nights into my stay they woke me up in the night, telling me to leave for my own safety. I quickly gathered my things and headed out, but not before seeing what they were so scared of. The top of their mountain had blown up and neon green fire was shooting out of the top. Even as far away as I was, I could still see the demon like figure clearly in the fire. I was almost positive something was wrong so I decided to come home… but I wasn't sure until the day Pride interrupted Omi's fight with Wrath."

"What do ya mean?"

"Clay… I think that figure I saw in the fire… I think I saw Pride being resurrected."

JACKS PLACE

Jack silently gazed up to the dark night sky while lying on the roof of his home. He'd taken to relaxing since Gluttony and Wrath had attacked the day before. He hadn't had much motivation to build robots since then, or do much else for that matter. He'd devoted most of his time and energy anymore to figuring out what the Sins wanted with him. They'd taken him prisoner once already and tried to recapture him multiple times since then. What was the deal? What could possibly be so important about some guy who happens to have an IQ extremely above the average level?

Jack felt his eyelids begin to droop. He figured that it was a nice night out anyway and he was too lazy to get up so he's just sleep out there that night. He stretched and yawned and forced his eyes open one last time to get a good look at the stars. That's when he noticed that one was moving across the sky leaving a thin white tail in its wake. Jack chuckled as he remembered the childhood tradition. If you saw a shooting star you were supposed to make a wish. Such a silly, unrealistic fantasy. But he figured he'd give it a shot anyway, just for the fun of it. "Wish I could see Nina again soon." He said aloud as his eyes closed and he tried to go to sleep.

"Wish granted."

Jack's eyes snapped open and he sat up, turning around quickly to find the red head in the form fitting plain white dress standing in the doorway leading from inside to the roof. She smiled at him happily and giggled. Jack just stood up and started at her, stunned with joy. The two walked toward each other slowly, getting a good look at each other.

"Hey." Nina said shyly.

"Hey." Jack responded, equally shy. They stopped right in front of each other and remained silent for a few seconds. But then something occurred to Jack. "What're you doing here?"

"I quit." She said. When she noticed the confused look on Jacks face she just shook her head and continued. "… The Sins. I'm done with them. I'm no longer the Sin of Sloth… Just Nina." Jack opened his mouth to ask something else, but once again Nina beat him to it. "I've found something better in my life." She said, answering Jacks unasked question. She reached over and grabbed his hand, squeezing it gently.

Jack smiled at her and asked if she'd like to join him in star gazing. Nina agreed and the two walked over to where Jack had been lying. It didn't take long for them to fall asleep in each others arms… completely unaware of the dark figure, eyes hidden by sunglasses and body shrouded by a black trench coat, watching them from an upper level of the roof. The figure laughed. "Well I'll be dipped… li'l Jackie's finally got himself a girl." He said. "To bad I'm going to have to do them both in tomorrow."

THE TEMPLE GROUNDS

Elena sighed as she stared at her own reflection in the waters of the temple fountain before her. She'd been sitting on the fountains edge for about an hour now and had no intention of moving any time soon. She just couldn't stop thinking about the day before. What she'd said, her fight with Wuya, everything else… it all seemed so confusing. She knew that she liked Julia and it was obvious that the feeling was mutual… but the whole gay thing… it was so new to her. Nervousness, embarrassment, cold feet, whatever you wanted to call it she had it. She shook her head and dismissed these thoughts. She would figure this out the next time she spoke to Julia.

Speak of the devil. At that very moment Jewel came walking over to the fountain looking just as nervous at Elena felt. _I didn't mean this early_. Elena mentally groaned. "Mind if I sit down?" Jewel asked.

"No, I don't mind at all." Elena answered, her face turning red slightly. Jewel noticed this and just smiled at her as she sat down next to her. They sat in awkward silence for a while, both knowing what was on the others mind and having questions of their own they wanted to ask, but neither quite finding the strength to speak right away.

"Did you mean what you said yesterday?" Julia finally asked. "Did you fight Wuya yesterday to save a friend… or to save me?" she paused as if trying to get her words straight. "What I'm trying to say is, do you really like me… or did you just do all that to save Julia your friend?"

Elena remained silent for a while, trying to figure out Julia's question. She knew the answer, but she wanted to find the right words to say it. Quickly coming to a decision Elena scooted closer to the other girl and grabbed her hand, lacing their fingers together and pulling her a little closer. Jewel smiles at her and also moved a bit closer to the other girl.

"I meant what I said." Elena stated. "I really do want to… to be your girlfriend."

Overjoyed to hear these words Jewel reacted on her first instinct and pulled Elena into a tight hug. Elena was stunned by this at first, but regained control of herself in no time and hugged her back. She sighed. _This feels so right._ She thought. She then heard Jewel whisper "Thank you" into her ear before pulling away. They just sat their holding hands and staring into each others eyes for a bit. Then Elena stood up, pulling her new girlfriend with her.

"One thing before we go back inside," the Spanish girl said, "Can we not tell Master Fung about this yet? I'm still kind of getting used to this and it'll be awkward enough letting everyone else know."

Julia just smiled at her. "What ever you want, Babe."

THE KITCHEN

Rai grabbed onto the top of the table to support himself as his legs nearly gave way beneath him. He'd just come to the kitchen for some chips when his back suddenly went into another fit of pain. This was the third time it had happened since they'd returned to the temple the day before, each time getting more random and more painful. The first time it had happened was when Rai sat down in a chair and it went off as soon as his back touched the back of the chair. The second time Kim had tapped on his shoulder because she'd wanted to talk to him, but that set it off as well. And now here he was, holding onto a table just to stand up as his legs had become utterly useless. And this time the pain had started for no apparent reason.

"Rai!" Kim came running into the room and kneeled down next to him, asking if he was all right. At the sound of her voice he gave up on standing and let go of the table, letting himself fall onto the floor. To answer Kim all he could do was groan and shake his head.

"That's it… I'm taking you to Master Fung." Kim said as she grabbed his arm and tried to lift it over her shoulders. But as she did Rai shrieked and she backed away immediately. She couldn't even explain how she felt then, seeing Rai like that. She knew she had to get a look at his back… and frankly she'd tried. But whenever someone tried to remove, or even tear off, his shirt it only caused him to scream louder than ever.

Kimiko was suddenly struck by an idea. "I'll be right back. Don't go anywhere." She said before running off.

"Like I can." Rai grumbled. He waited there until she returned with the familiar gold and green box with a silver padlock. She set the Chiyu box down next to him and whispered its name. The pad lock evaporated and the box opened, revealing a single yellow tablet inside. "Oh god, not that thing again." Rai complained.

"I know it tastes horrible, Rai, but it's either this or live with that pain forever." Kim snapped. "Now open up."

Rai forced down the pill and, just as Kim had expected, he seemed good as new! _Why didn't I think of that earlier?_ Kim asked herself. "All right, now let's take a look." She said.

Rai agreed and pulled his shirt over his head. Kim turned him around and gasped at what she saw.

It was a large scar covering most of his back, still warm to the touch and steaming from the metal rod Wuya had used to burn it their. It was in the shape of a diamond with the top cut off and two lines jetting off from the two top sides of it. And in the center was a single spot… almost like the pupil of an eye.

Kim placed her hand over her mouth as she stared at the strange burn. "What is this?"

SLEEPING CHAMBER

Rush kneeled on the mat inside of his room looking down to the two pictures in his hand. The picture in his left hand was of him and the others, all nine of them having a great time the day Saya had returned to the Temple. He couldn't help but sigh, knowing how happy they'd all been back then. Rai and Kim stood in the center holding each other by their waists. And just behind them were Clay and Saya, Clay holding her close to him as if saying he wouldn't let go of her again. On the left of them was himself grinning like an idiot with his arms around both Julia and Elena's shoulders. And on the other side was Omi standing right in front of Mimi. Hard to believe that those two could barely stand each other back then.

Rush looked over the picture in his right hand, which was really more of a drawing. It was a drawing of himself and Raven when they were younger. They were about six or seven at the time, maybe less. The artist hadn't missed a single detail: from the trees and bushes (not to mention a lion) in the background, to the elderly black man holding a fancy spear just behind them, to the mountain that blocked the horizon. He remembered those days vividly. Back then he had no worries, no responsibilities, no problems… but now that had all vanished. He had to worry about his life and the lives of others constantly, his responsibility was to protect the world from ten thousand years of darkness (among other things), and his life had become one big problem since that one day almost three months before he came to the temple.

Rush sighed and placed the two pictures on top of the chest he used to store his cloths. "I'm sorry." He whispered before standing up and walking out of the room.

DINNER, THE NEXT DAY

The pill from the Chiyu Box had really done the trick for Rai. He'd returned to his usual easy going, sarcastic self and felt no more in his back than the occasional itching now. He and Kim were so happy about this that they'd decided to "celebrate" that night and got caught sneaking out by Rush, though they were only leaving because they didn't want to wake anyone up this time.

Jewel and Elena also seemed especially cheerful last night. They' made their big announcement just before bed and everyone congratulated them, though Rush was the only boy who had any idea that Elena was gay in the first place. Elena insisted that no one tell Master Fung, however, and everyone agreed that was a good idea, thought Omi insisted that Master Fung wasn't Homophobic.

Not everything was well that night. Omi and Mimi seemed too deep in thought as did Clay and Saya. And Rush was just as pissed off as he'd always been since Raven was taken.

"Hope everyone likes Beef Stew, 'cause that's what we're having." Dojo announced.

Rai and Kim too their usual seats next to each other at one end of the table and Clay and Saya sat across from them. Elena walked in next and sat next to Kimiko and Rush followed her in, sitting next to Clay. Then Jewel came in with a big grin on her face which obviously meant that something good had just happened. "Hey, Babe." She said as she took her seat next to Elena and kissed her girlfriend on the cheek. "I have great news!"

"What is it, Jewel?" Elena asked.

"Well…" Jewel started, pausing to chuckle to herself. "I just got a call from my dad and he told me his job is making us move again, but don't worry, I'm still staying here. But guess where we're moving this time?"

"Oh… I don't know… Russia, Britain?" Elena guessed.

Jewel just shook her head and grinned. "Spain." She announced.

Elena raised one eyebrow and smiled at her curiously. "What town exactly?"

"Oh… nowhere special. Just some small town-_Barcelona_-you've probably never heard of it."

Despite Jewel's try to be funny Elena saw right through it and gasped in joy. "Oh my god! This is great!"

"Quiet down guys!" Dojo snapped as he slithered over from the door. "Master Fung is on his way." The girls quieted down instantly, holding their joy in to celebrate later.

The elderly man they all respected walked into the room. "Hello, my students." Fung stopped and looked around the room quickly as if something was amiss. "Where are Omi and Mimi?" he asked.

"There you are!" Omi and Mimi came walking into the room, Mimi holding on old leather bound book in her hand. "Where have you been, Master Fung?" Omi asked. "Mimi and I have been trying to find you all day."

"I had business to attend to else where, I hope I did not inconvenience you."

Mimi held up the book she was holding to show it to Master Fung. "What do you make of this?" she asked. The letters on the front were faint, but still clearly read _"Diary of Xiaolin Grand Master Dashi"_ on the front.

"I know you have full knowledge of every book within the library, Master." Omi said. "Why did you not tell us about this? It has information that we need to fight the Heylin forces, not the mention the Seven Deadly Sins!"

Fung suddenly lashed out to grab the book from Mimi but the red head snatched it back before he could grab it. "Give me that book immediately!" he ordered.

"With all due respect, Master, no." Omi said sternly. "Not until we find out how to defeat the Sins, which I know is hidden somewhere in this books pages."

"Give me that book right now, you little midget, or so help me I'll… sorry… please, just give me the book, Mimi."

But Omi was already suspicious. The Master Fung he knew would never deign him a chance to expand his knowledge, much less call him a midget. Something was wrong here. "Tell me, Master Fung… did you know Julia is a lesbian?"

Everyone immediately went wide eyed and stared at Omi in disbelief. Omi may have been a bit stupid at times, but he knew when to keep his mouth shut, especially when he was told by eight other people to keep his mouth shut. "What the hell Omi?" Rai demanded.

"Oh, but that's not all." Omi said as he walked over to the kitchen counter and stopped next to the silverware drawer. "As of last night, she and Elena have officially become a couple. Tell me, Master Fung, what do you think of this?"

"Shut up, Omi!" Saya snapped.

But it was too late. "Get out! **Both of you!**" Fung ordered, slamming his fists on the table and glaring at Elena and Julia with loathing in his eyes. "I will not have you poisoning the minds of my students."

"**I KNEW IT!**" Omi suddenly pulled the silverware drawer from its place, letting it fall to the floor, and pulled out a large chef's knife. He jumped towards the old man and as Fung turned around to see what was going on Omi took the knife and slashed it across his throat.

Everyone fell silent as the watched Fungs body fall to the floor and blood spurt from the gash on his throat. "O-Omi…" Rai stuttered.

"You just slashed Master Fung in the jugular, Li'l Partner." Clay said.

Omi glared at them and drove the bloody chef's knife into the floor. "That's not Master Fung!"

(a/n) I know, biggest cliff hanger so far, right? if that's not fun then who is it? why dont you all guess, Id love to hear what you think. anyway, this is the finaly chapter before the epic 3 part climax. I can guarentee that none of you are going to be disapointed by the ending, as twisted as it may be. but there are still 3 chapters until that, so dont get to excited. so now Ill just leave you to speculate what will happen next. questions that still need answers (that I can remember): who is this Fung imposter, if Omi is right that is. who was that figure that was watching Jack and Nina? did Saya actually see Pride being resurected? Whats with the weird burn on Rais back? why is this golden aura that Raven (and Riku) has so important? and what is Pride hiding from Envy and not Wuya? all these and more will be answered within the next three chapters, so get ready. Coming soon, the 3 part climax to this epic story: To Sin Again.


	23. Chapter 23: To Sin Again Part 1

Chapter 23: To Sin Again Part 1

Chapter 23: To Sin Again Part 1

"What do you mean that's not Master Fung?" Rai demanded, outraged by Omi's claim. "Who else could it possibly be?"

Omi was about to snap back at the Shoku Warrior when he realized that he didn't have an answer for that. All he knew was that the person he'd just killed was not his Master. Omi looked over the body quickly to see if he could find any clue at all, but found nothing at first. Upon closer inspection, however, he noticed that the body's shirt had lifted up slightly in its fall. And on that small patch of revealed skin he saw what looked like a tattoo, the point of a white arrow to be specific… or maybe… "I don't know who it is, but here's your proof that I'm right." Omi reached down to the body and lifted the shirt up more to reveal that dreaded symbol they all knew: the seven pointed star with four black points and three white points. "Any questions?"

Everyone fell silent once again. What was the insignia of the Seven Deadly Sins doing on Master Fungs stomach? Or maybe a better question was why did the Sins even need a false Master Fung in the first place… and where was the real one?

A quiet, choking laugh suddenly came from the false Fung's body. "Finally, one of you figured it out." Everyone jumped to their feet as the body, now clutching its still bleeding throat, pushed itself back to its feet. "I was getting tired of this charade anyway." The false Fung then stood up straight and the gash in its throat just vanished, the ripped flesh melting back together and not even leaving a scar behind. "And for the record," It lifted its arm and pointed at Omi. It didn't take long for the arm from the elbow down to transform into a three foot long cutlass. "I didn't appreciate that knife to the jugular, short stuff."

Using its remaining hand, the false Fung grabbed Omi by the front of his shirt and threw him to the side, sending him through the window and into the yard outside. It then jumped out the window after him, followed closely by the others. When the false Fung hit the ground and stood up it found itself surrounded by the nine monks and a super sized Dojo. "Well," it snickered, "This seemed unfair." Its remaining hand shifted into a cannon and it aimed for Dojo. The cannon went off and shot a huge electrified net at him. Dojo tried to fly away but the net caught his tail and zapped him, knocking the dragon unconscious. "Now who else is going to take a nap?" It set off the cannon a few more times and one by one Rai, Kim, Clay, Saya, Julia and Elena were caught in the steel nets as well, though these weren't electrified. The false Fung then turned to Rush, Omi and Mimi. "Now then… bring it!" it said as its cannon reverted into a hand.

The three remaining monks were ready, about to make their when a strange green light covered the yard. Everyone looked up to find the seven pointed star hanging above the temple giving off an eerie green glow. "Oh, come on!" the false Fung grumbled. "You're lucky Pride has really bad timing."

The false Fung then reverted to its true form: a skinny teenager with shaggy brown hair wearing baggy blue jeans and a black T-shirt. "Envy!" Rush shouted.

"Yeah, yeah, it's one of the Sins! Who could've figured that out?" Envy said sarcastically. With that he turned around and lifted his hand into the air. In an instant a portal composed of dark energy formed before him. Envy turned around again. "This portal closes in twenty four hours. Let's hope you make the right decision… that is, if you want to save your precious Master and that black girl." With that Envy walked through the portal, mockingly waving goodbye as the nine watched him disappear into the darkness.

"That bastard!" Rush shouted. He went to dash after Envy and follow him into the portal but he tripped when Omi grabbed his ankle.

"Are you crazy?" Omi demanded. "That's exactly what he wants! If we even do go after him we need a plan first!"

"Omi's right, Rush." Mimi agreed. "Now let's get the others free and then we can talk this over." Rush growled at them both and reluctantly agreed.

Five minutes later everyone, minus Saya who was still struggling to free Dojo from the electrified net, was sitting in the meditation hall discussing what to do next. Rush demanded that they follow after Envy as soon as possible, thinking it was time to end this battle once and for all. every one else agreed, it was time to end this, but Clay pointed out that Envy gave them twenty four hours before the portal closed, so they should use that time to their advantage. Again, everyone agreed, despite a few irritated grumbles from Rush.

"So, what do we do?" Kim asked.

"Yeah," Saya agreed as she walked into the room. "It's not like we know anything that can kill the Sins for good."

"We do anything we can." Omi said. The little monk then reached into his sleeve and pulled out the five scrolls he'd found in the library. "These scrolls contain techniques for each of the five dragons with power beyond all imagination. I used mine once before to defeat Wrath back at the tournament."

"I wondered what that was." Rai said.

Omi tossed the four scrolls other than his own to their owners. "Raimundo, the Gale of Sono Kaze Touzoku. Kimiko, the Flames of Sono Kasai Nisou. Clay, the Stones of Sono Tsuchi Rurousha. And Saya, the Flash of Sono Denkou Kisaki. Use all the time you can to practice these techniques."

"What about us normal people?" Julia asked.

"Do what you can to prepare." Omi said. "And be ready. In twenty three hours we're going through that portal and we're going to take down all seven of the Seven Deadly Sins once and for all."

TWENTY TWO HOURS LATER

"We've got one hour before we leave, people." Rai said as he opened the Shen Gong Wu vault and stepped inside. "Everybody grab one and get outside."

A few minutes later as everyone had grabbed their selected Wu and went outside Rush stayed behind and went into the deepest part of the vault where the most dangerous were kept. He already had the Canine Crossbow in his hand but he knew that wasn't going to do much against any of the Sins, especially the one he planned on fighting. He needed something with a little extra power, and this was where he'd find it. The Sapphire Dragon, the Quasar Cube, the Sleeping Boar, all had what he needed, but not what he wanted. He wanted to make Envy suffer, and he knew just the Wu to do that with. He stopped in front of the drawer he wanted and pulled it open. He reached inside and pulled out the Kazusu Atom.

Rush tucked the Kazusu Atom away and ran upstairs to find the others. As he expected they were waiting for him outside and none seemed to notice that he was gone as they were all mentally preparing for the upcoming battle.

"Are you sure you don't want me to come along?" Dojo, who was sitting on top of Clay's hat, asked.

"Sorry Dojo," Elena said, "But you're in bad shape. You'd just get in the way… no offence."

"None taken." Dojo said, rubbing his multiple burns from the net. He jumped down from Clay's hat and slithered away into the kitchen, stopping at the door quickly to tell them to be careful.

"Everyone ready?" Rai asked as he tucked the Sword of the Storms under his sash. Everyone said yes in their own way and they all turned to the portal. "All right then. Let's go get 'em. Today we take down the Seven Deadly Sins… or die trying!" With that Rai dashed for the portal and everyone followed him one by one, Rush being the last through. The portal vanished right after Rush went through.

JACKS PLACE

Jack was lying on the couch in his living room taking a nap. He'd spent the last day and a half growing closer to Nina and he had also taught her the basics of making robots, which she really seemed to have a flair for, though it was a bit exhausting to keep her from making a critical mistake. After pushing her out of the way of a few minor explosions Jack figured it was time for a break. So now he was taking a nap on his couch and Nina was in the kitchen getting herself a snack.

Nina walked over to the couch and set her glass of water down on the coffee table. She knelt down beside Jack and smiled at him before leaning in for a quick kiss. "Wake up, lazy." She giggled afterwards. Jack kept his eyes closed and smiled back at her, refusing to get up. "Fine." Nina said, "Then I'll just have to join you." She then lied down on top of him and placed her head under his jaw. Jack wrapped his arms around her and they laid there for a while, just enjoying each other.

"Ah, how cute." A voice said, breaking the pleasant silence. "Jack's finally got himself a girlfriend."

Jack's eyes snapped open. "I know that voice." He and Nina sat up and looked over to where the voice had come from, just behind the couch. Nina didn't make much of the person but Jack knew exactly who it was. It was a man about half a foot taller than him who looked very similar. He wore a black trench coat down to his ankles and just under that black leather boots were visible. He had his hands stuffed in his pockets, just as Jack always remembered him, and he wore a pair of sunglasses. But the big giveaway was the red hair, combed back just as Jacks was. That red hair was an unmistakable family trait. "Gabriel!" Jack shouted angrily.

"Hey there, li'l bro, how's it going?" Gabriel laughed. "Been a long time, hasn't it?"

"Get out of my house now!" Jack ordered.

"Jack, what's going on?" Nina asked.

"Now why should I leave, Li'l Jackie?" Gabriel asked sarcastically. "Remember how I used to call you that? Li'l Jackie." Gabriel laugh, "It's still funny."

Jack didn't find that funny. "I'll ask you one last time…" Jack snapped his fingers and a small fleet of his Robots came flying into the room, surrounding Gabriel and aiming their guns and cannons at him. "Leave."

Gabriel just shook his head. "Still haven't learned, have ya Li'l Jackie." He asked. He too snapped his fingers, but instead of Robots a horde of skeletal warriors rose up from the floor and trashed Jacks robots. "Did I mention that I've taken your girlfriends place as the Sin of Sloth?"

LAIR OF THE SINS

"What is this place?" Omi asked as he and the others passed through the other side of the portal Envy had left for them. They were in a large cave like chamber, barely lit boy the torches lining the walls. All around them rocks and boulders decorated the room and on the other side was a pair of double doors.

The portal disappeared as Rush passed through. "Guess that means there's no turning back." Rush said.

"You are correct, sir!" Everyone turned towards the double doors to find Envy was now standing in front of them, clapping his hands. "See, by accepting our challenge you have ultimately sealed your fates. So, which one of you is going to fight me?"

"What do you mean **one**?" Elena asked, pulling out the Ruby of Ramses.

"Oh, you didn't get the memo?" Envy asked jokingly. "That's how it works. After this Chamber is Sloth's, followed by Greed's and so on. Each of the Sins makes the rules for the challenge for their particular chamber until you get to Pride, which is just one big fight to the death. So, can anyone guess my rules? That's right, only one! So who's it gunna be?"

Everyone had half a mind to pull out their Wu and start the fight, nine against one, right there. But Rush stepped forward to accept the challenge. "I'll do it." he called out. "I've got a bone to pick with as it is."

Rai grabbed Rush by the shoulder and turned him around. "Are you crazy?" he demanded. "You can't fight him on your own."

Rush just glared at him and pushed him away. "Please, just let me do this." He said. "You all can move on ahead without me. I'll do just fine on my own against this asshole."

Rai wanted to protest more, but knew Rush was right. He was tough and he could hold his own, at least for a while. "All right, but don't die on me." He said. Rai motioned for the others to follow and the remaining eight passed through the double doors on the other side. Envy did nothing to stop them.

"So, how long were you posing as Master Fung anyway?" Rush asked.

Envy shrugged. "Can't remember. I think Wrath, Sloth, and Lust were fighting you in Iceland thought." He explained.

"Well then… I hope you're ready to die!" Rush yelled as he lifted the Canine Crossbow and took aim at Envy.

On the other side of the double door Rai and the others found themselves in another dimly lit room of the same size. Though this one seemed to be devoted to leisure and laziness. There were at least five beds, quite a few couches and chairs, a bar with every kind of liquor imaginable as well as chips and dip, a huge flat screen TV which didn't seem to be set up yet, and again their was a pair of double door on the other side. There was no one there. "Looks like Sloth has business elsewhere." Jewel said. "Let's keep moving."

The next room was much different. It was just as big and dark, but eh floor was covered by a single huge rug whish seemed to be hand woven in the Persian style. The walls of the room were lined at the bottom with decorative pillows, also Persian, and in the center of the room was a fountain which spouted what looked like blood and had a statue of a woman wearing nothing more than a bikini and two veils over her mouth and pelvis and was holding two swords. The woman the statue was based off of was sitting cross-legged right in front of the fountain. She had very tan skin and dark hair and her minimal amount of clothes was pink, as were the veils over her mouth and pelvis.

"I am the Sin of Greed." She announced.

"Ok, so how many of us have to fight you?" Kim asked, irritated.

Greed just laughed. "Please, there is no need to fight so soon." She said, standing up and sitting on the edge of the fountain. She dipped her hand into the fountain and pulled out a cup full of the red liquid. "Why don't we enjoy some wine before that? Death will come much more painlessly to you if you are a bit tipsy."

"Sorry," Mimi called, annoyed, "But we're underage."

Greed sighed and placed the cup back into the fountain. "Very well. It's your funeral." She said. She reached over her shoulders with both hands and the swords she was holding in the statue appeared behind her back. She gripped both swords and brought them to her front, pointing one to the group. "Two must stay for the rest to pass." She said.

This time Julia and Elena stepped forward to take the challenge. Greed nodded and stepped aside for the rest of them to pass by.

The next room was completely bare. It was just one big empty chamber lit by a big hole in the ceiling. This time Wuya was waiting for them. "I hope you don't mind, but I cleaned up a bit before you got here." Wuya said. As soon as they saw Wuya Rai drew the Sword of the Storms and Kimiko pulled out the Star Hanabi

"Eager, I see." Wuya chuckled. "Well I'm afraid only one of you can stay this time and I'm sure that Raimundo is in no condition to fight."

"Guess again." Rai growled.

"So, who'll it be? And be quick about it, I'm getting bored." Wuya said.

Rai was ready to take the challenge, wanting revenge for what she'd done to him, but Kimiko beat him to it. "I'll fight you… you no good bitch!"

"Thank you, I take that as a compliment." Wuya said as she stepped aside for Rai, Clay, Saya, Omi and Mimi to pass by.

"You'll pay for what you did to Rai." Kim growled as she charged the Star Hanabi with her fire.

"We'll see about that." Wuya snickered.

The next chamber was very similar to Greed's only this time there was no fountain in the center, only a statue. This statue was of a huge muscular man wearing a stone mask that covered his face from the nose up and the rest of his head, except for the eyes. And holding a club above his head. The base of the statue had _Gluttony_ inscribed onto it.

"Wait, I thought Gluttony was that fat gut in the armor." Omi pointed out. "What happened to him?"

"The same thing that happened to the original Greed, I guess." Saya said.

"Either way, I don' see him." Clay said.

"Keep your guard up, guys." Rai said.

The five began to make their way across the room, but hadn't taken five steps when the double door on the other end opened up. In walked the man the statue was based off of. Standing at least eight feet tall, tan skin bulging with muscles, and wearing only a pair of tattered pants and the stone mask over his head. He also carried the club over his shoulder. The Man eyes them carefully, as if trying to figure them out, and then banged his club on the ground twice.

"Guess that means two this time." Saya said. "You up for this guy, Honey?" she asked, turning to Clay.

"Yeah," Clay agreed, "He looks like enough of a challenge. Gluttony nodded and stepped aside. For the remaining three to pass.

The next room was unlike any of the previous ones. This one actually had light bulbs hanging from the ceiling. There were guns hung up all over the walls and cannons around the edge of the room as well.

"The only ones left are Wrath and Pride." Mimi pointed out. "And since Pride's the leader I'm guessing that this is Wraths room."

"But where is he?" Omi asked.

Just as Omi finished his sentence they heard a gun going off and a bullet hit right in front of them, making all three jump (Omi jumped right into Mimi's arms). "HA!" a voice called from up above. "I never get tired of that!" A man jumped down from the ceiling. It was a skinny Chinese man with very shaggy black hair, but his face was still visible. He wore a pair of black jeans and a plain green shirt with a black vest over that. "That's right, I'm the new Sin of Wrath!"

"What happened to the old Wrath?" Rai asked.

"Let's just say he's been shut down and leave it at that." Wrath chuckled. "So, which two of ya is stayin'?"

Omi and Mimi stepped forward to take Wrath's challenge. "Go on ahead, Rai." Mimi said to him. "We all know you have the best chance of defeating Pride."

Rai nodded and dashed passed Wrath. "Right then," Wrath said, pulling a pair of pistols out of his pockets. "Let's have some fun."

Rai pushed open the final pair of double doors and stepped into a pitch black room. He stepped inside and the door closed behind him with a thundering crash. Rai was blind for a few seconds up a sot light shot down from above in a few seconds and gave him some limited vision.

Another spot light went off on the other side of the room, bringing the man with the eagle helmet into Rai's view. "Welcome, Raimundo Pedrosa, to my domain…" Pride said, "And the last day of your life." He said as the eyes on his helmet flash blood red.


	24. Chapter 24: To Sin Again Part 2

Chapter 24: To Sin Again Part 2

Nina gasped as she heard Gabriel announce his position as the Sin of Sloth. "Jack, please, don't mess with him!" she pleaded. "I know all to well what he's capable of now."

Jack just growled, glaring at his older brother. Gabriel just chuckled and shook his head. "I see you still haven't forgotten the day I left home." He said.

"Not to mention the day you stole my ideas and cashed them in." Jack snapped, clinching his fist tightly. "You told me we had a deal, you thieving bastard!"

"Jack, please, tell me what's going on." Nina pleaded.

"I'm not surprised that he's never told anyone." Gabriel broke in. "But I'll be happy to tell the tale. It was about three, maybe four years ago. Me and Li'l Jackie here were real close back then, nearly inseparable. Even back then he was a mechanical prodigy and me… well, I'm a genius when it comes to business. Ya see, Li'l Jackie was working on a big project at the time, something that a lot of countries would've been interested in, if you catch my drift. But he was just making it for himself. I told him that we could make a lot of money off of it and the deal was struck. We'd build a prototype and present it to the U.S. military and see if they'd like it. Well… they loved it as I would soon find out."

"And not me." Jack growled.

"So yeah, I stole a few of Jacks blueprints for future robots along with the prototype and sold them to the military without him. And I own a big company now so I can hire a bunch of nerds to have new ideas for me."

"Wow… I've never heard someone be described more accurately." Nina said.

"Business genius?" Gabriel asked.

"No, thieving bastard. You're horrible."

Gabriel just shrugged. "Whatever, I need to do what I came here for." Jack and Nina remained silent, giving him hateful looks. "… Which would be to kill you…" he pointed to Nina, "… And to capture you." He then pointed to Jack.

"And what exactly do you need with me?" Jack asked.

Gabriel just laughed. "Oh, if only I could tell ya, Li'l Jackie. Unfortunately Pride said he'd kill me if I blabbed… So here's the plan: Jack, you're going to step aside and shut the hell up and you, red, are going to turn around and count to ten… for the record, you'll be lucky to get to four."

At that point something inside Jack snapped. Just hearing Gabriel threaten Nina triggered an impulse in him. Jack jumped over the couch and grabbed Gabriel by the front of his coat. "If you even touch her I swear I'll kill you!" he shouted. As his grip on Gabriel's coat tightened, a faint aura surrounded him which quickly grew into a fiery golden glow.

"AH!" Gabriel screamed. "It burns!" he pushed his younger brother away and stumbled backwards. He fell back, landing on the floor, but Jack held his footing and started towards him. "Damn." Gabriel whimpered. "Only got one shot at this…" in one swift motion Gabriel pointed his hand at Jack and a beam of dark energy shot out, striking Jack in the chest and shooting right through his, hitting Nina as well afterwards. On contact with the beam both Jack and Nina vanished. Gabriel just growled in disappointment. "Damn diligence."

GREED'S CHAMBER

"I'll give you one last chance…" Greed said as she twirled her swords in her hands. She quickly grabbed the handles again and clanged the blades together before continuing. "Surrender now and allow Lord Pride to decide your fate or fight me now and die like the heroes you think you are."

Jewel scowled at Greed and glanced over to Elena. "I choose hero, how about you?"

"Hero." Elena agreed.

Greed sighed. "Very well." She said, pointing one of her swords at them. "I hope you both enjoy eternity in hell." With that swiped one sword in front of her and a cloud of dust rose up from the Persian rug. The cloud was thick and blinded the girls to the point where they couldn't see more than a few feet in front of them. Greed then vanished from where she stood and reappeared behind Elena. The Spanish girl barely had time to duck before Greed slashed where her neck had been only half a second earlier. Then Jewel launched herself at Greed with the Emerald Gauntlet latched around her wrist. She activated the Wu and blasted a ray of neon green energy at Greed who was barely able to get her sword in the way to block. Grinning behind the veil that covered her mouth Greed pulled her swords apart, making the blast from the Emerald Gauntlet ricochet in all directions. Jewel managed to evade the attack but Elena, who was still on her knees, took it full force.

"Elena!" Jewel shouted. She then kicked Greed's swords away from her and blasted her in the stomach before rushing to Elena's side, kneeling down beside her. "Are you ok?"

"I'm f-fine." Elena stuttered. "It wasn't that strong after breaking up… only got a few burns on my arms and legs. I c-can still fight." The brunet girl staggered to her feet and clinched the Ruby of Ramses tightly. "We can still beat her." Jewel smiled and nodded before they both turned back to Greed.

The close range blast from the gauntlet and sent Greed flying back, making a huge crater in the wall. Greed had already jumped back to her feet, her eyes now glowing neon green and her body surrounded by an aura of the same color which made her hair float slightly. Without a word Greed raised her arms and her swords appeared from nowhere in her hands. Instantly the blades were charged with energy and she charged at them. Immediately, knowing that she was injured, Jewel jumped in front of Elena and started blasting at Greed. Greed evaded each shot with ease until she was directly in front of Jewel, about to stab her through the chest.

"Ruby of Ramses!"

Greed's swords shot out of her hands and up into the air. Jewel took her chance to round house kick Greed in the face, knocking her to the ground. Elena then deactivated the Ruby, letting the swords drop to the ground. The girls both took one each and walked over to Greed cautiously.

Greed remained lying on the ground, glaring at them.

"You gunna give up?" Elena asked.

"I'll give up as soon as I'm buried under six feet of dirt!" Greed shouted. Her hands shout of toward the girls and the swords vanished from their hands and reappeared in hers. Greed then jumped at them and kicked them to the ground, landing just over them and holding a blade to each of their necks.

GLUTTONY'S CHAMBER

Clay and Saya waited impatiently, Shen Gong Wu ready and not moving a muscle, as Gluttony too remained stationary. Except for placing his club back over his shoulder the colossal man hadn't moved and inch.

"I don't get it." Saya whispered to Clay. "What's he waiting for?"

Clay just shrugged. "Maybe he's waiting for us to start… then again, he don't seem too bright. Maybe he don't know…" Clay cut off as Gluttony let out a thundering roar and raised his club in the air before bringing it down and letting slam the ground in his rage.

"Oh, thanks Clay." Saya growled. "Now you've made him mad!"

Gluttony snarled at them and lifted his club again, this time throwing it at them with easy. They managed to jump out of the way but the Club ended up slamming into the ground right where they had been, tearing right through the Persian rug on the floor and leaving a huge crater in its place.

"Jesus! That things gotta weigh a ton!" Clay shouted.

"More like three!" Saya said.

By this time Gluttony was running in their direction, making the ground shake with every step he took. Instinctively Saya pulled out the Eye of Dashi and launched a few lightning bolts at the colossal man. He was fast though. By the time the bolts were only a few feet away from him he'd gotten to his club, grabbed it, and threw it into the air. Like a magnet the lightning bolts changed direction and headed for the club in mid air instead.

"How the hell'd he do that?" Clay demanded.

"His club's made of bronze." Saya explained. "Lightning is naturally attracted to the highest metal object in the area, in this case his club."

Gluttony let his club crash to the ground again, letting the electricity within it discharge into the ground, before grabbing it again. He then ran at them again, ready to swing his weapon at them and break their backs in the process. Clay activated the Mikado Arms and shouted to Saya to get out of the way. As Gluttony got within reach of him Clay grabbed the club as the colossal man swung it. It pushed him hack a few feet but Clay managed to keep his footing and catch Gluttony in a deadlock. There was a struggle between the two for a moment to gain control of the club, but Clay managed to get the upper hand and turn it the way he wanted. Gluttony, not wanting to give up, went with it and ended up flipping onto his back.

"Saya, ya mind zapping him? Preferably in the head region."

Saya shook her head. "His head is covered by a stone mask and stone doesn't conduct electricity… your element is earth, you should know this."

"The only reason you know is because your element is lightning." Clay retaliated.

"Less talking, more running for the door… while he's still on his back if you don't mind."

"Right."

They ran passed him, each on an opposite side of the colossal man. But just as they were passing his massive hands they both tripped as said hands lashed out and grabbed their ankles. Gluttony staggered to his feet while he held onto their ankles, flailing them around like rage dolls. Gluttony lifted them both up to his face and glared at their upside down faces as his eyes began to glow neon green.

WRATH'S CHAMBER

Wrath laughed hysterically a he fired off round after round from his pistols, never seeming to run out of ammo. "HA! Dance, puppets, dance!"

Omi was jumping around everywhere to avoid the bullets. It made no difference where he launched himself too, however. Whether he landed on one of the many cannons, jumped off of the walls, or bounced off of the ceiling Wraths pinpoint accuracy was almost too much for him. The only thing that was saving him was his speed. Mimi, while just as nimble on her feet wasn't as fast as her boyfriend and decided to protect herself with the Sapphire Gauntlet instead.

"What's wrong, midget boy?" Wrath shouted he continued firing off shots and his right eye began to twitch. "Not fast enough to fight me at close range? You realize that if you don't kill me you'll have to dodge my bullets forever, don't you?" He then turned to Mimi with one of his guns and began to fire at her while the other remained aimed at Omi. "And what about you, girly? Hiding behind your fancy magic shield… at least your friend here is trying to get at me!"

"Wait for it…" Mimi whispered to herself as she watched Wrath carefully through the force field. Then the moment of opportunity came as Wrath pulled both triggers again and nothing happened. "Now!"

"Orb of Tornami, ice!" Omi shouted as he pulled out the orb and jumped off the wall again. Two beams of ice shot out from the orb and struck both of Wraths hands, encasing them in ice.

"Oh, that is low…" Wrath grumbled as he looked at his frozen hands, with the pistols still being held by them. "This calls for some improvising!" With that Wrath vanished and reappeared among the throng of cannons on the other side of the room from Omi and Mimi. But now he was wearing what looked like a military uniform that was used by a French general in the French Revolution for some strange reason. "Le feu… le feu pour la France!" The cannons began going off like crazy, not aiming but coming very close to hitting both of the monks. Omi cannon ball managed to get very close to Omi and caught him off guard and he didn't notice another coming directly at him. Mimi, however, managed to jump in front of him and activate the Sapphire Gauntlet before the second cannon ball could strike him.

"For the record," Mimi scowled, "I'm French and you have the worst French accent I've ever heard."

"I'OH morsure je, vous escargot consummation chienne." Wrath laughed as his French general uniform vanished, being replaced with his original clothing.

Mimi's rage suddenly flared up and she started screaming in French so fast that no one could've understood it even if they spoke the language. Omi could only pick up a few lines in English like, "Escargot is gross," and a few others. "And if you ever call me a chienne again I will personally rip you in half!"

"What does chienne mean anyway?" Omi asked.

"Bitch." Wrath explained.

"Oh… now I'm going to kill you." With that Mimi deactivated the Sapphire Gauntlet and the two raced toward Wrath, completely oblivious that his cannons still had ammo. A cannon went off and was headed straight for Mimi. Omi jumped in the way, taking the shot for her, but he ended up blasting back into her and they both crashed into the wall.

Wrath laughed and walked over to them. "I have to say, this is by far the most fun I've ever had." He then slammed one of his still frozen hands against the wall Omi and Mimi were still against, both unable to move. The ice fell to the ground and Wrath dropped the empty pistol. He did the same with the other hand, riding himself of the other. "Now then…" Wrath reached up to the wall and pulled down one of his many firearms: a sniper rifle to be exact. "Who's first?"

LUST'S CHAMBER

"So…" Kimiko said as she and the Sin of Lust got through the usual preflight banter, "What exactly is that burn on Rai's back for?"

"Wouldn't you like to know…" Wuya snickered.

"Would you at least tell me why it's causing him so much pain?" Kim asked.

Wuya just laughed. "Trust me; your little boyfriend hasn't even seen the half of it yet. He's in for much, much worse than what he's felt already." With that Wuya summoned two orbs of green fire to her hands and hurled them at the Japanese girl on the other side of the room. Kimiko jumped out of the way and threw a couple fireballs of her own at the witch. Wuya, however, manifested a wall of green fire before her and it absorbed the fire that Kim and launched at her. Wuya then clapped her hands together and the wall of fire dispersed in every direction. Kimiko pulled out the Star Hanabi, quickly charged it with fire, and threw it like a throwing star, successfully taking out every fireball that was coming at her. With that out of the way Kim snatched the Star Hanabi from the air and then threw it at Wuya. Wuya managed to sidestep the Shen Gong Wu but failed to notice that Kimiko was running after it. Kim landed a solid punch across Wuyas jaw and knocked her to the ground. It didn't take very long for Wuya to jump back to her feet, grab Kim by the shoulders, and throw her at the wall. Kim, however, used this to her advantage by landing her feet against the wall and then launching herself back at the Sin of Lust and throwing fire at her while flying through the air. Wuya didn't expect this and took the fireballs full force along with Kim slamming her shoulder into her chest. Wuya fell onto her back again, this time, with the wind knocked out of her, unable to get up.

"Have you had enough punishment?" Kim asked angrily. Breathing heavily, Wuya was unable to answer. So instead she just spat at her feet and glared. "I guess not." Kim growled.

But before Kim could even move Wuya began to regain normal breathing and began to laugh, slowly and softly at first but slowly growing louder and more menacing. "You ignorant… little wretch…" she paused briefly to cough a few times, "You think I'm down for... the count already?" she laughed again, "I've barely gotten started. And you… you should consider yourself lucky… the poor bastard who's fighting Pride is probably already dead."

"You underestimate us." Kim said, drawing the Star Hanabi again and charging it with fire.

"Oh, contraire…" Wuya chuckled as she summoned more green fire to her hands, "You underestimate the Seven Deadly Sins!"

With that the two launched themselves through the air at each other. As they passed by Kimiko slashed the Star Hanabi across Wuya's stomach while Wuya did the same with her claws. They both landed perfectly on their feet facing opposite directions. They stood there silently for a while, waiting for the other to collapse from their injuries. It didn't take long for the pain to finally get to her and Kimiko collapsed to her knees.

Wuya chuckled and looked back at her fallen opponent. "Check and mate."

PRIDE'S CHAMBER

Pride and Raimundo remained under the spot lights glaring at each other from across the room. Both were completely silent. Rai clenched the handle of the Sword of the Storms for reassurance while Pride just grinned devilishly and the eyes on his helmet continued to glow bright blood red. Hat they were waiting for Rai wasn't sure, but this moment of solitude before the battle seemed needed… to both of them apparently.

"So tell me, young warrior, how is it that you've managed to survive my Sins this far? I was sure I'd picked the cream of the crop in choosing them… What's your secret?"

"Skill." Rai answered. "Now let me ask you something… what happened to the original Greed, Gluttony and Wrath… and where's Sloth?"

Pride chuckled, "Observant mortal, aren't you? Sloth left of her own accord and I've sent her replacement to deal with her… along with _him_. As for the rest… I delt with Greed long ago and Gluttony not long after. And as for Wrath… well… he took his own life before I could get to him." Another grin creped its way onto his face.

Rai gawked at him in pure disgust. "You took their lives willingly?" He asked in anger. "What the hell? They were completely loyal to you and did exactly as you said! What could possibly justify taking there lives other than the fact that they're completely evil, which you support!"

"They failed me once too many times." Pride said simply.

Rai turned his head away, unable to look at a man like him. "You're a monster." He said.

"Monster? I'm no monster… **I'M A GOD**!"

As Pride finished speaking the rest of the lights flashed on to reveal the rest of the room. It was a large rectangular chamber, about the size of a football field, maybe a little less. The walls and ceiling were made of pure white marble and the floor was made of gray marble tiles. All across the floor walls and ceiling were strange carvings etched into the marble, seemingly just random swirls and lines. The floor was completely devoid of furniture except for the throne on the other side which Pride stood before.

Pride grinned again and pointed up. Getting the gesture Rai looked up and was horrified at what he saw. There they were, bound to the wall by strange black tentacles that sprouted from the walls, three on one side and four on the other. Kimiko, Clay, Omi, Saya, Mimi, Julia, and Elena, they were all pinned down, completely unconscious, completely helpless.

_Wait… where's Rush?_ Rai asked himself. _He must still be fighting Envy, either that or he's already won and he's on his way here right now._ Rai grinned at the thought of cavalry, even a small one like his single remaining friend.

"And as a god," Pride continued, "I here by decree that you will never see your little friends again."

Rai then forgot about Rush and turned his attention back to Pride. He couldn't even put into words what he wanted to do to this evil man for hurting his friends. The anger flowed through him like a raging river ready to break through a dam. "Let them go… **NOW!**" he ordered.

"Why should I?"

"Because if you don't I'll…" He paused as a small pain shot through his spine, "I'll…" he stopped again as the pain came again, this time it was worse and lasted longer. He tried to speak again, but the pain returned, worse than ever before. He screamed dropped to his hands and knees as the hurt spread from just his back throughout his entire body. It felt like he was going to die and at this point he'd probably welcome that. He resorted to his primitive instincts and tried in vain to reach for his back where it had originated, literally ripping the shirt from his back.

Pride laughed as he watched Raimundo suffer. "Like I said, you will never see your little friends again… The Seal of Thanatos on your back will make sure of that."

And then the pain stopped throughout most of his body. It centered at one point of his body; the center of his chest. It was strange, the pain almost seemed like it was forming into a solid mass.

And Rai had no idea how right that was.

A black spot manifested on his chest and from it sprouted what looked like a handle, black as coal and with an etching that glowed neon green. The handle slowly came further out of his chest and quickly a hand guard emerged as well, just as dark and with the glowing green etchings as well. After the hand guard came the blade. At this point Rai had the sense to grab the handle and pull the thing from his chest. With a shriek of pain he pulled the black sword with neon green etchings from his body and held it into the air. He then stood up and glared at Pride, his eyes now black as the sword that has emerged from his chest and his irises glowing red. Then, without making him so much a wince, two huge black angel wings sprung from his back with a span of at least twelve feet and a few of the black feathers fluttering slowly to the ground.

Rai pointed his sword at Pride and grinned. "Try and stop me." He said, his voice sounding demonic, almost like two people were now talking from the same body.

"Amazing." Pride said, "You've actually managed to harness the power of the seal and physically manifest it instead of it overwhelming and killing you… maybe I should've chosen you for the new Wrath."

"Shut up!" Rai shouted. "Now are we gunna fight or what?"

"Very well." Pride laughed as he reached up and grabbed the beak of his helmet. "But I warn you… The other six Sins are nothing compared to me… even together." And then he lifted his helmet from his head and threw it to the ground and let it shatter. And as its broken shards scattered around him his body was engulfed in a red aura.

* * *

(a/n) there you have it, the fights between the Sins and the monks (not counting Rais and Rushs). if your wondering why I skipped Rush and Envys fight youll understand next chapter. I have big plans for that. and you can bet that Rai with his new kickass black angel wings and black sword (yes, it is the same one Shinobi had in the future) and Pride with his yet to be seen transformation will be epic. one chapter left to go! and (if this chapter didnt give it away already) Im planning something huge that I know you all are going to like. If any of you figure out what this huge "thing" is and tell me in your review Ill respond if your right. Ill have the final chapter up as soon as possible, but dont expect if before next week. later.


	25. Chapter 25: To Sin Again Part 3

(a/n) here it is, the final chapter of Seven Sins! I hope you all enjoy this because I worked my ass off on the fight between Rai and Pride. anyway, I hope you've all enjoyed reading this as much asve enjoyed writing it and I hope you love the "ending".

Chapter 25: To Sin Again Part 3

The red aura that had consumed Prides body began to die away and his body beneath the light began to become visible. Immediately his change was obvious. Most notably, other than his missing helmet, was that him shoulder covers with the bone spikes had vanished. The long sleeves on his shirt had vanished to reveal his muscular arms and his black sash was now red. The long braid of hair that Pride had kept revealed while wearing his helmet was now gone and the rest of his hair was long and greasy, hiding most of his face and neck underneath it. His short goatee also remained. And to top things off he had a long strip of cloth wrapped around his head, covering his eyes, and tied off in the back. "Now we'll see whose hand the worlds fate lies in… your or mine?" with that said he lifted his arm and pointed his fist as Rai. He clenched his fist tightly and a beam of light and energy shot out from his wrist and over his hand, stopping after about three feet to take the form of a sword.

Rai glared at him, tightened the grip on his sword and folded his wings. "The world decides its own fate, not you or me! Heroes like me are just here to point it in the right direction."

"Oh, how wrong you are." Pride murmured. With that, he charged at Raimundo, gliding just above the ground and his arm with the energy blade crossed over his chest. Rai extended his wings again and flapped once, lifting him off the ground so that he could do the same. The two flew straight at each other and their swords clashed together when they were close enough. Despite the two blades blocking them from going any further they both pressed forward, hoping to over power the other. However, they only succeeded in rotating slightly and shooting passed each other. Rai was headed straight for the wall and thought he was going to crash into it, but whatever it was that had given him his sword and wings seemed to take over. He quickly lowered his feet and jumped off the ground to make himself fly upward while still headed for the wall and then brought his legs in front of himself to jump off of said wall. His wings extended again, giving him enough control to flip over in mid air. Once again he found Pride headed straight for him. Knowing another deadlock wasn't going to work he opened his wings fully and stopped in mid air. He then grabbed his sword with both hands and slashed through the air, sending a wave of black energy at Pride. Noticing this Pride quickly swerved out of the way. He looked in Rai's direction (which was odd since he was wearing a blindfold) and gritted his teeth before clapping his hands together. Instantly his hands turned red and Pride pulled them apart in order to throw orb after orb of the red energy at Rai. Rai managed to dodge the first few but eventually his wings span got in the way and one of Prides attacks caught one of his wings. A few feathers burned away and Rai felt a small pain shoot through his wing, instinctively folding it in. this threw him off balance and he began plummeting to the ground below. Pride laughed menacingly as he watched his opponent fall. As he laughed he pointed both of his still glowing hands at Rai again, this time shooting off one huge red orb instead. Again, Rai's new powers took over and folded in his other wing only to open them both. The black feathers began to glow a metallic red color and began to shoot out of his wings directly into Pride's attack. Eventually the huge red orb exploded in mid air and Rai's wings returned to their normal black color, amazingly he'd lost no feathers and the ones that had burned away had returned.

Rai managed to land on his feet when he hit the ground and jumped up again. Pride just chuckled when he saw Rai coming at him again and then teleported directly in front of Rai, kicking him in the stomach and then slamming his fist into his Jaw, sending him flying upward. Rai simply shook this off but was caught off guard again when Pride teleported in front of him again. Pride summoned his energy blade again and went to slash Rai across the neck but Rai managed to block his with his own sword and push Pride away, putting a decent amount of distance between them. Giving Rai not chance to gather himself Pride came at him again, this time flying instead of teleporting. Rai clenched his sword with both hands and waited for Pride to close the distance. When Pride was only a few inches away Rai flapped his wings, sending him flying up and Pride went soaring right under him. Rai then dove at Pride, grabbed him by the back of his shirt and threw him down, slashing how sword through the air and sending another wave of black energy after him. Pride took the attack full force, causing a cloud of smoke to appear as the energy made contact with him. When the smoke cleared he was gone, simply vanished without a trace. Rai waited in the air for Pride to reappear, knowing that it wouldn't be that easy. Then, as suddenly as he'd vanished he reappeared only a few feet away from Rai, flying right at him with his energy blade ready to plunge into his chest. Not having enough time to react Rai simply tightened his grip on his sword and waited for Pride. But then, before he knew it, Pride had suddenly changed directions and was flying away from him. It wasn't like he turned around either; he just suddenly went from facing Rai to facing away from him. It didn't take long for Rai to realize that he'd just teleported like Pride and the other Sins could do as well.

"Finally realizing your true potential, are we?" Pride said suddenly from across the room. "Do you even know why you have those wings, or that sword? Well?" Pride paused to let Rai answer. Rai just remained silent. "It's because of the mark Lust made on your back. It's called the Seal of Thanatos. That seal on your back allows a small fraction of the chi that makes we Sins what we are flow into you."

It took Rai a few seconds to figure out what he meant, but it clicked quickly. "Wait… so…"

"That's right, Raimundo Pedrosa, you may as well consider yourself an eight Sin… but then again, your power is only a fraction compared to mine. I may as well stop toying with you now and finish this." With that Pride crossed his arms and went silent. His body was surrounded by another red aura. Before Rai could even ask what he was doing four exact copies of Pride appeared behind the original. The original grinned, "I hope you've enjoyed these last few moments, trying to save the world from me… but you should've know it was hopeless."

"If it's hopeless then I wouldn't be here right now." Rai growled.

Pride just chuckled. "You're courageous, boy; I'll give you that… strong too. But when it comes to wisdom and intelligence you have no hope."

With that Prides four clones flew passed the original straight for Rai. The first went to punch Rai in the face but was avoided easily. The other three, however, came too quickly to be dodged. The second rammed his shoulder into Rai's stomach while the third kicked him across the face. The fourth summoned the energy blade from his wrist and slashed it across Rai's chest, but only making the cut deep enough to torture him, not kill him. Two of the others then summoned their own energy blades and stabbed right through Rai's wings quite a few times each and then the first that had tried to attack him appeared just behind and slammed both of his fists onto the top of his head, causing Rai to plummet to the ground. This all happened so fast that Rai couldn't have done anything to stop it. He crashed into the ground head first, unable to even scream the pain was so intense.

Pride slowly glided down to the ground, absorbing his four clones along the way. He touched down just in front of where Rai was lying. He shook his head. "You should've known better, child. I was not simply comparing myself to one when I said I **am **a god." He then bent down and grabbed Rai by the front of his shirt, lifting him into the air. "Now I'm going to give you one last chance. Surrender, bow to me, pledge allegiance to the Seven Deadly Sins and I shall heal you, perhaps even turn you into a true eighth Sin… what say you?"

Rai only groaned as the black sword, still in his hand amazingly, evaporated away and his wings reabsorbed into his body. He managed to open one eye and get a good look at the man who, quite literally, held his life in the palm of his hand. He knew what he had to do.

The dragon of the Wind took and deep breath and then spat at the Sin of Pride, hitting him on the cheek. "You go die!" Rai managed to say.

Pride just shook his head. "I'm afraid that's not possibly." Pride then snapped his fingers with his free hand and the ceiling above them simply vanished, revealing the star filled night sky above them. Then the tentacle which held Kimiko and the others to the wall stretched out and unwrapped themselves from Rai's friends. "I told you, I am a god." Pride continued. One by one Rai's friends began to glow bright white and the tentacle holding them up reverted into the wall, letting them hang freely in the air. "And as a god I can make sure… that you never see you're little friends again." and then, one by one, they flew away, so fast that they couldn't even be seen except for the glowing white trail they left behind them. It wasn't long before all seven of them; Kimiko, Clay, Omi, Saya, Mimi, Julia and Elena; had all vanished into the night sky. It was then that Rai, too, began to glow. "Good bye…" Pride threw Rai into the air and just as the others he flew away in a flash of light. "… Raimundo Pedrosa."

LOCATION UNKNOWN

"Wake up, kid."

Rai groaned weakly as his eyelids cracked open. He found the blinding sun glaring down over him through the branches and leaves of trees above. The sounds of the forest surrounded him: singing birds, squirrels running through dead leaves, wind rushing through the leaves on the trees, etcetera. "What the…" Rai groaned as he tried to sit up, but a sharp pain shot through his spine and her fell back down onto his back.

"Easy, kid! I can't have you dying one me now."

Rai turned his head the best he could to find a strange man wearing armor leaning against a tree a few yards away. His armor looked traditional, like a medieval knight, only more form fitting and with bigger gaps in between the separate sheets of iron, probably to make it easier to move. Under the armor, where Rai could see at least, was a leather jump suite. "You ok, kid?" he asked.

"Hey, what's going on over there?" an unknown voice shouted from farther away.

The armored man turned metal covered head and cursed under his breath. He turned back to Rai and nodded, "Catch ya later." He said before vanishing into thin air.

Just as he vanished a boy about Rai's age came running into Rai's view. He had short, black, spiky hair and wore a black sweater and a pair of blue jeans along with sunglasses. "How the hell…" the boy muttered.

"Forget him." another voice said, this one female. "This guy looks hurt." The girl had long blond hair and wore a pink tank top and blue jean shorts. She also had a golden necklace with a cross around her neck. The girl kneeled down next to Rai. "Are you ok?" she asked. Rai only shook his head. "Can you tell me your name?"

"R-r-Rai… Raimundo." Rai managed before passing out again.

SIN'S MEETING CHAMBER

Pride appeared in his throne, alone in the chamber where he and the other Sins shared their meetings and conferences. He looked around at the six remaining empty thrones around him. "Time to take the world for our own." He muttered.

"Lust!" In a burst of green flames the redheaded witch that served as the Sin of Lust appeared in the throne to Pride's right. "Wrath!" Next the crazy Chinese man appeared, again in a blaze of green flames, polishing off one of his many guns. "Greed!" The dark skinned woman with the veils over he mouth and pelvis appeared in the throne to Wraths right. "Gluttony!" The colossal man in the stone mask appeared next to Greed. "Sloth!" Gabriel Spicer appeared next to Gluttony listening to an ipod in his pocket. "Envy!"

Nothing happened.

"Well look at that." Wrath chuckled. "The brat skipped out on the party."

"That 'brat' has months of seniority over you, Wrath." Wuya argued. "I'd treat him with a little respect if I were you."

Pride called for Envy again and still nothing happened. From under Prides blindfold the other Sins could see his eyes glowing bright red. "I will return with him shortly." Pride said before vanishing.

ENVY'S CHAMBER

Envy and Rush glared at each other from across the room, both on their knees and breathing heavily. Around them boulders were shattered and craters were all over the walls and floor. Their battle had been epic and still neither had succumbed to fatigue or died. Envy continued only out of the thrill he got from fighting this boy who he now considered his equal and rival. And as for Rush, he fought in hopes of getting some answers as to Raven's location.

"Where…. Is she?" Rush said, trying to shout but to out of breath to do so.

"Who're you talking about?" Envy asked, honestly not knowing who the African boy was talking about.

Rush slammed his fist on the ground. "You know damn well who I'm talking about!" he shouted. "Where's the girl who was with us in the Under World… the girl you kidnapped out of a loophole... Where is Raven?"

It took Envy a few seconds but he eventually remembered the girl Rush was talking about. "Oh! You mean the mute girl." Envy said. "Don't worry, she's nice and safe down in the dungeons… she's completely safe."

"For your sake she'd better be." Rush growled under his breath, digging into his back pocket for the Kazusu Atom. Then Envy started laughing. "What's so funny?" Rush demanded.

"Oh, nothing." Envy chuckled. "I was just thinking… I never knew how much fun you could have with someone… _when they can't scream…_"

Something in Rush's head snapped at that point. "You bastard! I'll kill you!" he stood up and pulled the Kazusu Atom out of his back pocket, aiming it directly at Envy. He wanted Envy to pay for what he'd done: Kidnapping Raven, impersonating Master Fung, making fools of them all and so much more… and this was how he was going to do it.

"No, you idiot, I was bluffing!" Envy shouted. But it was too late. Already Rush had shouted the Shen Gong Wu's name and a blinding light shot out from it. The light consumed the whole room, making Envy disintegrate on contact but leaving everything else in perfect condition. When the light faded Envy was gone, a pile of dust was all that remained of him. Rush just glared at it and shoved the Kazusu Atom back into his pocket.

He had no regrets.

"A fine display, young man."

Rush swung around to find a man wearing a blindfold standing behind him. Despite the major difference in outfit Rush instantly knew him to be Pride. Rush reached back into his pocket for the Atom but found it to be gone already. "Don't bother." Pride said, holding up the Atom in his own hand. "I take precautions before revealing myself."

"What do you want?" Rush demanded.

"To make you an offer."

At these words Rush lowered his guard but never took his eyes off of Pride. "I know who you really are, Rush." Pride continued, "You're a liar. You claim to be from a middle class family in South Africa, when in reality your home land is in Kenya, and your people are an indigenous tribe there. You say that you've already graduated high school when you've never been to school a day in your life. You say you came to the temple of your own accord, when you only went there because you were banished from your tribe for entering a realm that your people consider forbidden. I could go on."

Rush just gawked at him. "How'd you know all of that? I never gave anything away."

Pride shook his head. "You didn't have too. My eyes see anything and everything." He said, tapping two fingers to his temple.

Rush cringed and backed away from him. "So… what's this offer of yours?"

"Eager, I see." Pride chuckled. "How would you like to have anything you want just with a flick of your wrist of a nod of your head? Anything you desire could be yours: fame, wealth, power, women… anything at all."

"Not interested."

Pride was taken by surprise by this, but only for a second. "Very well then… let's talk about what you really want. The girl, Raven if I'm correct. What would you do for her safety?"

"Anything!" Rush shouted. "I'd die for her!"

Pride laughed again. "That isn't necessary. Here's the deal: I will guarantee Raven's safety and I will release her back to her home."

"And in return?"

"All I ask in return… is that you take the place of the in you just killed." Pride then teleported behind Rush and placed his hand on his shoulder. "Think about it. The girl will be protected and free to do as she pleases and all you have to do is say three little words." Pride leaned in and whispered into Rush's ear, "I… am… Envy."

Rush froze as Pride whispered these words to him. Raven would be free and protected from harm and all he had to do was become the new Sin of Envy. He had to choose between risking this mad man torturing and possibly killing the girl he wanted to protect or becoming he hated and fought so hard against. What was he to do? Rush grabbed his head as he weighed the two decisions in his head. It almost seemed like he was going to go crazy trying to decide when he finally came to a decision.

"I… am… Envy."

* * *

(a/n) As some of you may have noticed by now, I am not a big fan of completely happy endings. in this case the ending was one big disaster, but I have my reasons for that. I cant tell you how thrilled I am to finally anounce that I'm writing a third enstallment to the Fifth Dragon and Seven Sins duelagy, making it a trilogy. Im titleing this third instalment "Begun By Blood", why youll have to wait and find out. for the record, Im going to take a break from XS related stories before I start this. dont worry though, it wont be any longer than a month. in the mean time, feel free to ask me anything about my this story youd like, but please dont ask about "Begun By Blood", I really don't want to give anything away. until then, later.


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